SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

The big give away.. as told by (me!) sandra, tvgp

one of my cousins through marriage that I talked to at my family~reunion style birthday, is a teacher.  she was talkin' about how she grew up in a nice, safe, good neighborhood, but is currently teaching in a hostile, dangerous, and bad neighborhood.   one of her concerns was how the gang members dress.  she explained that it used to be gang members would dress in predictable colors/styles that allowed you to identify them as gang members pretty immediately, but today, they all just wear what they want to without any strict codes to colors or style, which makes it even worse to figure out who is a good guy and who is not..

-this got me to talkin' about the gang environment I grew up in, and I found myself laughing write away..

its not funny; I know.  its actually very serious, but the reason I was laughing is because it flashed in my imagination..    our gang, high & mighty, at the roller rink..  back in the day..

it is true.  I was in a gang myself.  jr high.

in my neighborhood, there were a number of tough gangs; genuinely threatening, mean, and hostile..

and they all had names, and they all had turf/territory wars on the street.

now, to be sure, me and my brother/sister, friends were not gang material, we needed only to somehow survive in an environment where gangs seem to thrive..

most of the larger gangs were made up of Mexicans who famously drove low-riders..  and were pitted against other gangs of the same and different races; and pitted against anyone who did not drive a low-rider

so, the white people with high-rider cars..   born enemies, you see.  low-riders vs high riders.

now, the low-riders, were a real kind of tough; the kind of gangs that are violent, with cold hearts, where one could be found at all..

-and as I mentioned; we were not..    we were forced to acclimate and survive.  that meant..  

that meant we had to create a gang of our very own.

and, so, what kind of things do you need to start a gang of your very own?  -write..

well, you need people to be in the gangs,  -so we gathered all our school friends, and anyone and everyone who went to the roller rink on Friday nights that drove a high rider, and any/all of my brother's friends who liked rock n' roll..

next, you need a name for your gang...   and i'm not sure who sealed the deal on this one, but at some point we all reached an agreement:

high & mighty.    high, fit for the high-rider cars, and mighty...   because...   we hoped it was some kind of threatening identifier..

so we had people and a name...

next we needed a wardrobe..       we needed 'colors'

so..   black!

black is a very tough color, write..      the other gangs were famous for black jackets..

we got ourselves..

we got ourselves...   ~matching black, short sleeve t-shirts.

yeah; that's write!  watch out!

now, the real gangs did wear the same colors; but..  not so match~y/match~y...

and, the real gang members were somehow known by their names, but never because they had them printed on anything..   


the real gang members were mostly known by name because of graffiti on cement walls; over street signs, and along the paths to school..    maybe cut into their skin; or tattooed..

but we..    we decided to be a little more,  -how shall I say?  blatant.

and it factors in here that at this time, my father just happen to have a t-shirt business at a couple local malls:   threads & treads..

so!  we all got our matching short sleeve black t-shirts and had our gang name printed on the very front so that the whole world would know..    so that there was no doubt!

-no doubt you were in the presence of a HIGH & MIGHTY gang member, and there were lots of us!  (12?)  and you better not mess with one of us!

and one of the places the big territory wars seem to take place, was in the parking lot of the roller rink on Friday nights..   valle vista,  now demolished.

so..   "everyone!  wear your HIGH & MIGHTY T-SHIRTS THIS FRIDAY!"     -and this all passed via word of mouth, because..   this was around, 1979, and way BC    /before cell phones and/or social media..

anyway..   we all wore our tough black matching short sleeve black t-shirts to the roller rink

and the big give away..

I mean, if you had any question in your mind whether or not we were a genuine threat to anyone,

it became quite obvious by our choice of font:   I mean, when I remember back, the girl gang members must have been the ones in official charge, because HIGH & MIGHTY was in...

rainbow bubble font.

yes.   please take a moment to imagine how threatening this must have seemed...  

a bunch of white boys and girls with matching black t-shirts, that said HIGH & MIGHTY in rainbow bubble font...      skating all fast and tough in small circles over and over again...

My God, I cant contain my own laughter when I remember...

it seems the equivalent of a computer geek entering prison grounds with a hello kitty lunch box.

anyway..

there were fights in the parking lot..   it was ugly sometimes..   all that is true.

but we made it through

and that would be a blast of a reunion to have..    

HIGH & MIGHTY gang members in their 50's and 60's pulling up in hybrids..   roaring engines..  and trying to remember the secret handshake...   


in the parking lot of golden skate...   


In Jesus sweet and precious name,    ~amen.

posted by SHE @ 10:48 AM