Slices of life in America

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NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 20, 2016 - 08:05pm PT
I thought this could be a thread to share little bits and pieces of lifestyles that make up America, to get a better idea of how we all manage to get by, to give us all a better handle on what is happening in our country apart from what we personally see day to day.


First up: life in Walmart parking lots.

It's a great nexus of the growing divide between the haves and have-nots in our country. Some are there because it's easy, it's on the way to somewhere fun, and they are having an adventure. Some are there because they are old, sick, and stuck in a slow-motion nightmare. I stumbled upon this while researching stuff for a van build-out.

[Click to View YouTube Video]

I do enjoy me some BLM and forest service territory, but I never got into the urban camping thing. I see it as a sign of the times, people finding silver linings in the bleak storm clouds of limited opportunities. Celebrating the modern nomadic lifestyle:

[Click to View YouTube Video]

Or maybe that just shows my conservative underpinnings, and not recognizing that iPhones and virtual social connections and climbing gym fees are more important than rent these days... it's not a "silver lining" if you don't see storm clouds as a problem. It's just life with a bazillion ways to live it. Fascinating. Bonus there was some climbing related content toward the end of this video.

So what else is out there in America?
thebravecowboy

climber
The Good Places
Dec 20, 2016 - 09:15pm PT
the Mexican emigre, seconds-new American citizen, was statuesque, tall. As the old man registered her to vote, she checked the red box.


Peater

Trad climber
Salt Lake City Ut.
Dec 20, 2016 - 10:37pm PT
Ok but I have various thoughts.

Thanks for the WalMart heads up. Now I know where to go. I've got one a couple miles away.

Not knocking any one in need but I drove by this guy with a sign saying he was a Vietnam Vet, needs help. BS. He was obviously much younger than me and I almost had to go there but I was just a bit too young.

Had a guy living in the vacant lot next to me. I wasn't super happy about it but I let him be and he caused no problems.

In Ventura where I used to live there were people raising crops and chickens in the river bed. Kinda like homesteading. They were left to be.

When I was layed off from work years ago with $900 to my name I took my MC all over the US and Canada. I had no address and no one knew where I was. It was kind of cool.

When I got layed off recently I can't go anywhere.





mudrock

climber
Eastside
Dec 20, 2016 - 10:43pm PT
I've been working with mostly female Mexican immigrants as token blue-eye in a California retail mcjob for the past year.

I grew up in PA, spent a winter bumming around from TJ to Tulum in the early '80s. Working with people who would've been toddlers, if that, has been interesting.

One line of thought I've been pursuing is how Texas and California differ in the way Mexican influence, and that of Southern Whites (yeah Cormac) has been taken aboard.

Thin-skinned passive-aggressive Californians rub me the... oops, it's ski season. Which gluten-free low-sodium free-range uncured organic diet artisanal authentic family tradition animal flesh that your pocket minder tells you is on sale would you like ma'am/sir? How would you like it sliced?


Peater

Trad climber
Salt Lake City Ut.
Dec 20, 2016 - 11:28pm PT
Mudrock ! You are either drunk or a troll. Either way nice to meet you. I can respect whichever of your personas you wish you to pursue in the future.

By the way what is the capitol of Philadelphia?
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Dec 21, 2016 - 07:34am PT
I tell climbers from overseas on their first trip to the States to go to a Walmart and a Wholefoods......provides an interesting snapshot of a divided America.
In my travels around the world I have seen the enormous urbanization that has occurred. This has led to a two country divide....urban vs. rural...in nearly every place I have been.
This divide is very striking in our country.
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
Dec 21, 2016 - 07:50am PT
This divide is very striking in our country.

Oh boy is it ever. Being split amongst Santa Cruz, the Greater Bay Area, Moab and the high seas; then visiting my home town nestled in the woods of Western Pa....major culture shock.
When visiting my home town I gotta be ready to talk guns and huntin' when at my adopted home, I need to lament the senseless killing of animals and proliferation of guns (well maybe not the Moab part)

Susan
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Dec 21, 2016 - 07:55am PT
I would go to Walmart if they had fresh mussels.
yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
Dec 21, 2016 - 08:06am PT
[Click to View YouTube Video]
10b4me

Mountain climber
Retired
Dec 21, 2016 - 08:10am PT
This divide is very striking in our country.

I remember hearing, a few years ago, that the middle of the country was going to move to the coasts. Well obviously that didn't happen. What I see occurring is that the people of urban areas are moving into rural areas.

My question is, once a urban person becomes a rural person, do they change their political ideology?

In regards to the Walmart parking lot people. It's hard to get employed if one doesn't have a permanent address.
As an aside, Flagstaff is a hard place to find a job unless you work in the healthcare field.


That chic, in the second video, is annoying as hell.
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
Dec 21, 2016 - 08:16am PT
That chic, in the second video, is annoying as hell.

Who the f*#k wakes up in a car looking that good? And oh yeah, what's with this new fad of young people "graying" their hair? Senior rant over.

Susan
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Dec 21, 2016 - 08:24am PT
"And oh yeah, what's with this new fad of young people "graying" their hair? Senior rant over."


And why do all the young people in Seattle have eye problems?

I've never seen so many young people waking around wearing Clark Kent - looking glasses.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Dec 21, 2016 - 08:46am PT
America's a very large pie.
They are the Salt of the Earth.
"New Age" is not spoken here.
yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
Dec 21, 2016 - 10:04am PT
And oh yeah, what's with this new fad of young people "graying" their hair?


Because gray hair is hawt, duh.
Escopeta

Trad climber
Idaho
Dec 21, 2016 - 10:10am PT
My question is, once a urban person becomes a rural person, do they change their political ideology?

No, they end up trying to get their urban banality with a rural wrapper. Which is why the country folk hope they stay in the city.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Dec 21, 2016 - 10:27am PT
Which "lifestyle" do you prefer?
Colonial or contemporary.

When was the last time a valet parked your rig for you?

A typical parade in much of western America will be comprised of bikers, some Shriners, maybe an old faux Conestoga with a toothless codger riding shotgun, a convertible with the queen and her court, floats constructed by total amateurs, another convertible with local dignitaries and one for the parade marshal, as many marching units as can afford to attend (even though school music dept. budgets have been slashed mercilessly), equestrian units, including the Sheffiff's posse in gaudy silver-mounted finery, and gleaming fire trucks, tractors, and maybe, on Memorial or Veterans Day or the Fourth, a fly-over from the local military command.

SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, A sailboat, or some time zone
Dec 21, 2016 - 12:14pm PT
[quote]http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20161220/annual-homeless-memorial-highlights-continued-need-in-santa-cruz-county[/quote]

Annual Homeless Memorial in Santa Cruz, remembering the homeless that died this past year. It was 37, one less than last year.

Susan
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
Dec 22, 2016 - 07:35am PT
An interesting and sad situation, for sure. The Walmart "campers" present quite a spectrum. What the hardcore share is a steady ability to make the wrong choices time and again. The main dood featured gets "talked into" trading in his car for one he obviously can't afford. Why the dealership even did this is beyond me. AND he develops a gambling addiction, but maybe if he becomes an artist he can sell his work? Wow. The attractive middle-aged woman who's an aspiring actress? Yeah, good luck with that career path. The couple with the broken down bus, baby, and chicken? Wow again.

I've been lucky, for sure, but the lack of critical thinking skills, the fundamental understanding of the laws of cause and effect that is missing in these types shocks me. Recently I was traveling south on 395 and stopped at the Indian gas north of Independence. There was a couple with a sign out asking for gas money. They were traveling some long distance and had run out of gas. WTF? How the hell do you even start such a journey without the scratch to make it work? Most of us sit down with pen and paper/computer/whatever and think: Hmmmmm...I got X miles to travel. My rig gets Y miles per gallon, so I'll need Z number of gallons. Lemme see here: Gas is about $3.50/gal, so.... Not these folks. C'mon, Helga, let's go! Freakin' amazing. FWIW, we threw 'em a few bucks! I know, we're suckers, but my wife pushed me.

BAd
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Dec 22, 2016 - 07:47am PT
"Critical thinking" in the Land of the Free....in short supply based on recent events.
10b4me

Mountain climber
Retired
Dec 22, 2016 - 08:12am PT
Critical thinking" in the Land of the Free....in short supply based on recent events.

aka common sense isn't that common anymore.
Happiegrrrl2

Trad climber
Dec 22, 2016 - 08:21am PT
Over the years(since 2010) while I have traveled cross country, I tend to stay off the interstates. Yes, I have done a few stretches on them, but for the most part I tend to go from city to city using the back roads.

Over those years I have seen some depressed towns - shuttered Main Street building, empty parking lots in manufacturing plants, crappy roads, dirty streets and so on. Farms across the country in disrepair.

NOT THIS TIME.

I don't know that I have seen a SINGLE farm where the barn wasn't either freshly painted or brand new. Except of course for the ones being left to decay because they aren't in use anymore. I love those old relics....

The towns are looking GREAT.

The Main Streets are active, with entrepreneur-owned small businesses ranging from artsy to cafes to tech and legal services. New Holiday decorations on lamp posts. Manufacturing plants with filled-to-capacity parking lots, in clean, new and refurbished buildings.

And vehicles! Where are all the old and broken downs, barely runners? I see a LOT of new cars in the lots and along the streets. Not so many of the ole dependable(?) beaters I have over the years.

People are NOT complaining about "business being tough" as I chat them up.

Man oh man, that Trump dude is quick. Hasn't even taken office yet and I see clear evidence of America on the mend.


Or......


At any rate, I have been quite surprised at the difference.
yanqui

climber
Balcarce, Argentina
Dec 22, 2016 - 09:03am PT
When we went to City of Rocks, Burley Idaho was looking pretty grim. At least compared to Balcarce. Didn't see many other small towns on our visit.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Dec 22, 2016 - 09:28am PT
insert trump university victim story(s) here:


story(s) yet to be written post settlement money distribution here:
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Dec 22, 2016 - 01:56pm PT
I could have been living in a Walmart parking lot, too, had it not been for a few 'lucky' decisions that I made along the way. I look backwards and see plenty of inflection points in my life path that had I gone along a different one, I'd be in a massively different place.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Jan 14, 2017 - 08:58am PT
How to save one slice of life by taking another.

(CNN)An Arizona trooper who had been shot and was being beaten by a man with a pistol was saved Thursday by a motorist who killed his attacker, authorities said.

The man who came upon the scene warned the suspect to stop striking the officer, but the assailant continued, said Capt. Damon Cecil, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
The good Samaritan got a gun from his car and shot the suspect, who died at the scene.
The trooper, a 27-year veteran, was shot in the chest and shoulder. He is in serious and stable condition, Cecil said.
The trooper was identified Friday as Ed Andersson.

Col. Frank Milstead @frank_milstead
Thanks for the thoughts and prayers this morning for our Trooper that was shot. Looks like he will be okay after some recovery @Arizona_DPS
6:26 AM - 12 Jan 2017

Col. Frank Milstead, director of the Public Safety Department, said he would like to thank the man who stepped in. "I don't know that my trooper would be alive today without his assistance," he said, according to CNN affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix.
Unusual circumstances
Public safety spokesman Bart Graves said the incident began with the trooper responding to report of shots fired from the median of an unlit, rural section of Interstate 10 near Tonopah. Andersson came across a vehicle that had rolled over and got out to investigate. While Andersson was setting flares, the suspect shot him.
It was not clear where the suspect was when the officer pulled up.
Milstead said at some point the suspect started beating Andersson, who was unable to use his right arm to defend himself. That's when the motorist pulled up and opened fire on the suspect.
"It's fairly rare" that citizens who come to the aid of law enforcement officers use deadly force, Cecil said.
Another motorist who stopped used the trooper's portable radio to call in the shooting.
The conversation between that driver and the dispatcher was very businesslike, Cecil said.
"Hello. Officer down, officer down outside Tonopah. Come in, please," the man says, according to audio archived on Broadcastify, which streams radio communications between emergency responders. "He's in real bad shape. Please send air support, helicopter, please."
He tells the dispatcher there are two other people who are down in an "unknown condition."
Cecil praised the motorists who stopped to help, saying, "They were calm, determined."
A woman who was ejected from the vehicle died at a hospital, authorities said.
Authorities didn't release the names of the people involved in the incident, which occurred after 4 a.m. near mile marker 89, west of Tonopah. That city is about 50 miles west of Phoenix.

May the better slice win. ?
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 14, 2017 - 09:09am PT
Bad, you have my proxy vote. Most Murricans can't spell logic. I've a passel (sp?) of
nephews and nieces who've been born with silver spoons in their mouths and aren't that
much different than the Walmart parking lot lot in terms of critical thinking.

"Whaddya mean I can't live large on an Art degree?"
Ward Trotter

Trad climber
Jan 14, 2017 - 11:03am PT
The Main Streets are active, with entrepreneur-owned small businesses ranging from artsy to cafes to tech and legal services. New Holiday decorations on lamp posts. Manufacturing plants with filled-to-capacity parking lots, in clean, new and refurbished buildings.

Americans are reversing direction. If it were not for immigrants, law-abiding and otherwise, the urban areas would be depopulating as we speak, and it would be inescapably noticeable.
Urban America, even the gentrified variety, is a very unhealthy place to be-- made unhealthy by much more than the traditionally obvious. There are newer forms of breakdown, physical and social and political, that are being increasingly identified and have developed relatively recently. All of these negative forces are coming to bare upon people living in the large population centers. The toxic load from all sources, especially technological, seems to be of the exponentially upward variety.

Rural Americans, in general, are in a much healthier environment. They have their problems,but , again, in general, they and their families live a bit closer to nature-- and this counts for much more than is typically acknowledged. Those Americans living closer to nature will be healthier going forward, those living in large cities much less so-- urban dwellers will be much worse off even than they have been traditionally.
hooblie

climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
Jan 14, 2017 - 11:53am PT
the municipal water department employees buzzed around town in little pickups with the doors emblazoned with the city's code of arms and a message inscribed: "report water waste."

i had routinely splashed through a stream of water crossing an arid suburban avenue. out of cranky curiosity one day i set off in search of the source which i came upon about thousand yards into an affluent neighborhood where estates sat atop grassy knolls. plumbing emerged at the curb and small patches of moss spoke to the regularity of the discharge.

several months later one of those little pickups was parked in the shade and i took the bait when the driver looked up from his paperwork. he knew the case in point well, but there was nothing to be done. he explained that daily purge/continuous replacement of the contents of the spa was "use" not waste, and the associated waterfall had an organic nature including elements that would not be tolerant of chemical treatment

10b4me

Mountain climber
Retired
Jan 14, 2017 - 12:04pm PT
Rural Americans, in general, are in a much healthier environment. They have their problems,but , again, in general, they and their families live a bit closer to nature-- and this counts for much more than is typically acknowledged. Those Americans living closer to nature will be healthier going forward, those living in large cities much less so-- urban dwellers will be much worse off even than they have been traditionally.

That's debatable. For one thing, the poverty rate is higher in rural states, i.e. Mississippi, West Virginia, etc.
clinker

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
Jan 14, 2017 - 12:39pm PT
There is a difference between rural and ass backwards.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jan 14, 2017 - 12:53pm PT
Yer gud wit da spellin', Rylee.

"Passel" is closer to the root word "parcel."

Advance to the first seat, please. Take $2,000 (inflation) and spend it wisely.
Ken M

Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
Jan 14, 2017 - 04:02pm PT
When I had my illness back in April, and lost the ability to walk for awhile, I ended up joining the "Y", about 5 minutes from my house. Needless to say, it is not the "hardbody" type of place, for the most part. I joined it to swim, which has restored my ability to walk.

I noticed that there were a number of people who could only be homeless, using the facilities for showers, etc. Not for working out.

I discovered that the "Y" has a policy that they will not turn anybody away for lack of ability to pay.

I realized that this is a real enhancement of our community. These people are able to shower daily and maintain a level of hygiene. I'm sure it keeps them healthier.

I think there are a lot of safety nets of which we are totally unaware.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Jan 14, 2017 - 04:05pm PT
So many things re: as slice of the way we play in ' Murcia . . .
But 1st;
There is no truth to the thought that interior dwelling,
urban folks are less "healthy" than our more rural neighbor's.

For one thing;there is much to be said for the motivation that Not having the benifits of nature just across the meadow, Causes.

For those who live in cities there is a need, some times with physical traits, ailments,
if one waits to long to get back to the woods.

The idea that abcence makes the heart grow fonder.
Also the fact that "The Ones Who ride the Wire" or Keep the fences, the Cowboys; our rural neighbor, works outside or in & has his view of more rural landscapes. Can go to favorite spots for lunch or on the way home from work, so often; Has had his fill of the out of doors, or feels no nawing need to escape to the wilds at the end of the work week.

'Murcia, slice ?



When the Stettner Brothers got on motorcycles in Chicago and rolled across the prairies .
Motivated by black n white photos in newsprint of the thing out there with the "big snowy ledges 1/2 way" ( up It )

Longs Peak was notable enough (even in 1927) that the Stettner brothers were aware of the already-established routes on its East Face.
They packed their felt-soled German Klettershoes, their pitons, carabiners and rode to Colorado on a pair of Indian motorcycles. The trip alone was adventuresome enough to secure a place in the lore of climbing — it took five days of rough riding on dirt roads just to reach the mountains. They arrived bought a hemp rope, climbed the hardest line yet climbed
And went back to the the city.
Those where factory workin' city boys.


The college kids that swarmed the cliffs of central NY in the 1950s And still do today.
They did and do strive to get way out .
The culmination, BITD, was the Vulgarians , and the American Alpine Club.
Then and Now
Small Urban Crags Are Where The Lifers Are!



Somewhere I was wanting to point out this . . . .?
Also, given the need,
or
for the ability to fund getting out,
make enough money to take long time periods off, that city life affords more often than rural life.
Also destroys the thought that only rural folks lead healthy -in touch with nature- Life styles.
Happiegrrrl2

Trad climber
Jan 14, 2017 - 05:18pm PT
My slow-moving vehicle and I are now 90 minutes east(ish) of Phoenix, Arizona, and I am STILL delighted at the vibrancy of the small towns I've encountered along the way. This is NOTICEABLY different than in the past. I only went through ONE town that was utterly depressing, and that one seemed to be so because it had a "too-close" neighbor town that seemed to get all the attention.

It should be interesting to see how it goes in a couple of years. Will Trumps "Great Again" America sustain all these little shops? I mean really - a BEAD STORE, with GOOD beads, in Safford, Arizona? And there were four or five other shops dedicated to crafting and home decorating, not a one of them a national chain.
Steve Grossman

Trad climber
Seattle, WA
Jan 14, 2017 - 06:52pm PT
This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
-Woody Guthrie
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jan 17, 2017 - 09:25am PT
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