getting hastled

Last time that I got hassled really bad was at the anti-war protest in DC on Sept. 15th. Rather brought it on myself though, walking on the wrong side of the barricade (i.e. with the counter-protesters) with my signs and all. Bunch of guys in motorcycle jackets calling me a "dirty fucking hippie"... it was hilarious really, but the funniest thing of all was that it bothered my brother(/chaperone) more than it bothered me! "I swear to God, one more word and I would've gutted him like a fish!"

Because he started the day warning me not to get into any trouble or he could lose his internship... and I was chill about the comment, and here he was wanting to take on this wussy Hells Angels wannabe!

 

Hmmmm nothing much has happened to me

...cept once on a school trip las year i had a flower in my hair and there was a few girls, who kept asking me if i was trying to be a hippie. I then had to explain No i have a flower because i LIKE flowers not because i wanna fit a stereotype.

But then again i dont dress hippy and i dont plan to... Tye dye and barefoot, its just not me.

 

strange countries you live in

i never get trouble on the street for who i am/ how i look/...
not even if i'm high,... and acting "wierd"

Then again people won't critisise me as fast because of my seize (195cm) and most people are afraid of me

 

I've been stereotyped long before I even had a real chance (what's new, huh?). It began my freshman year in high school when my classmates assumed I was a stoner and all. I didn't even smoke pot until my senior year! I thought I dressed "normal", jeans and a t-shirt. Still do, most of the time, though I'm guilty of wearing various pj pants and flannels everywhere and home made hats at work, home, and everywhere else. My close friends all refer to me as "hippie" of various sorts, and I guess at times I fit the bill, I guess, but I never actually saw myself that way. My wife claims that we're hippies without the conviction, but I don't actually know what that means - it just kinda makes sense in a vague way... I don't know how to define "hippie" probably b/c I've lived with that "label" for many years and never really proclaimed it for myself. I like hearing what other people say in similar scenarios where they don't really know for sure and plain don't really care, they just prefer their own individuality and what they like to do. I don't get high much anymore, either, (though I wish to GOD I could every day still) just a working guy trying to keep a positive attitude...

 

Yeah, I’d get a lot of shit like this all the time when I was younger but you just have to learn to put all the people back in their places.

Like one time when I was around 15-16 I was walking around the Galleria wearing my favorite tye-dye hoodie with these awesome jeans with holes in the knee’s and lime green thongs (or flip flops as many of you might call them) anyway...even that was enough to set off people staring, or even blatantly pointing at me.

I just stopped caring after a while, I guess. If they stared at me, I’d stare back. If they pointed at me, Id laugh at them or something.

It gets more interesting now as my little brother grows up in particular because he’s getting into the whole gothic attire nowadays with a hippy-ish outlook. He’s even been wearing the nail polish and the eyeliner and he’s only 12 (I’m so proud of him for having his own identity)
So when we go out shopping and walk together, we get the most bizarre looks from everybody we bump into.

Now we just see it as a game.

 

I don't get hassled. But I'm not dressed like a hippie.

When I was, people still wouldn't hassle me.

 

People hassle with me but i'm proud of it