I'm worried I'm starting to hate portland. Not for dancing. I actually like it. No contact and lots of stage tips is the perfect dancing situation for me. But I just feel that, as I've gotten older, I've started to see the seedy and sad part of the bohemian culture that prevails out here. Which is sad, because I've always thought of myself as a typical bohemian Portlander/Oregonian (I lived a VERY counter culture life as a child). But after being with my last boyfriend, I'm disenchanted. He was a fairly well known local musician, and through him I met a lot of other local musicians and they were (almost without exception, the one's i met that is) HORRIBLE PEOPLE!! They're all in their mid 30's to mid 40's and have kids that they barely take care of. They basically put them all in someones house when they want to go out (several times a week), designate the oldest as "babysitter" and stay out until 4 am playing music, getting wasted, doing coke and going home with strangers and forgetting their kids. And no one ever seems to understand why I look horrified. they don't take their kids to school because they "don't feel well" (i.e. hungover) or"got in really late last night and just couldn't get up."
Is this typical here? Or is it just bad luck that i seem to encounter these people? I could chalk it up to a bad crowd but i seem to KEEP STUMBLING UPON THESE PEOPLE. It's like people are staying children well into their 30's. Which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't insist on also having ACTUAL CHILDREN. Am i just old fashioned now to believe a 10 year old should have someone taking care of them at night, instead of being left alone till 4 am to take care of a group of younger children who's parents are also out drunk all night on a Tuesday? maybe i'm going crazy, but it feels like everyone acts like there's something wrong with me for thinking this is a little f-ed up. please tell me this is not the norm these days.



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