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| . The Fight with Badger…. |
| I followed the Badger (Glen) around like a lost puppy for 4 or 5 years. What ever the badger did I did. “What one kiddy did the other kiddy did.” Is what Glen would say. I lost my identity some where and just did what he did. I copied him and mirrored him as much as I could. He taught me how to spit, how to crack open sunflower seeds with my teeth among other things; we trapped animals and followed nature and broke things. |
| I recall the moment I broke away from the co-dependant friendship. He wanted to climb over fences and jump into people’s yards and rip up people’s gardens or open up the trash collectors and throw the trash all over the alley and collect booze bottles. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to follow him that day. I was tired of following. I wanted to lead. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I didn’t want to follow him any more. |
| I turned around and walked back to his house and played board games with his younger brother Neal. It was one of the huge turning points of my life. I loved board games. It was my moment of clairity. It was the lie detector in me. I didn't want to be THE BAD AGER |
| The next day or so Glen the Badger and Greg Kmetz poured beer into my new boots. I ran the Badger down and poured it all over him in his house. His father told me I couldn't come back to their house any more. |
Art by William Pilch
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