Hitchhiking Memoir Part 5, Tipping point survival, the homeless and getting robbed

You are about to read Part 5 of my hitchhiking memoir. Where I travel around 10,000 Km's in a month... and the events leading up to it. I think about life in the flow of things, and survival, and how dependant and potentially screwed our society could be... and get ready to hit the road! This story will make a bunch more sense if you read the first 4 parts... they are all 5 minute reads or so. They are all linked below. Please tell your friends if you think they will enjoy my writing, upvotes and resteems are very welcome as well... but mostly... read it and enjoy! Thanks!

Part 1:
https://steemit.com/life/@allcapsonezero/hitchhiking-memoir-part-1
Part 2:
https://steemit.com/life/@allcapsonezero/hitchhiking-memoir-part-2-globalization-callcenters-and-drywall
Part 3:
https://steemit.com/life/@allcapsonezero/hitchhiking-memoir-part-3-sobriety-warehouse-workaholics-the-big-idea
Part 4:
https://steemit.com/life/@allcapsonezero/hitchhiking-memoir-part-4-humanity-stripped-tourism-and-fear-doubt-courage-and-the-will-and-a-bmx

When I observe the way we, as a whole, carry on... especially in a bustling babylonian city of the future, I can’t help but yearn for something more real. I cannot see this global economic, military-industrial, cash controlled, slave holding, constitutional democratic, hollywood star gazing workaholic, uber sedated, perscription over the counter, intsant quick fix, scratch and win, gas guzzling, passion feeding, desire fire blazing inferno burn much longer. Keeping this idea engrained in my mind, I could not resist to feel the flow, escape society and understand life at a more basic, primal and simple level. A level where you do not flow within the walls of society and its trade-offs, costs and benefits, and selling yourself, but rather, where you flow with the earth, the weather, the other people who have broken out of the construct that traps us within an extremely destructive pattern.

The skills, knowledge and understanding that one could gain outside of the walls, I think, will become much more important in the years to come. The walls are cracking, the pressure is building and there is not a sign of it slowing down. There is an acceleration of both the decline of our society within the walls and acceleration of individual growth outside of these walls. Growth as an individual and knowledge of life outside of the futuristic world is extremely important for one who wants to ensure survival in the years to come. If and when it all hits the fan, life for everyone will change drastically in an instant. There are many things ignored by the vast majority of people, which will become necessary if not forefront and cornerstone. If one is out of touch of these things... certain death awaits.

I am speaking of many things, many things unspeakable. For example, what would happen to George Orwell’s dogs, from animal farm if the farm stopped producing and the pigs could no longer take care of the dogs. The dogs were so dependent on the pigs. All the dogs did was whatever the pigs told them to do and in return they were taken care of. If the animal farm had a major crash, many things would be cut off. The pigs never cared for the dogs... the pigs cared for the pigs, and the dogs served the pigs best interests. The truth would hit the dogs hard and they would realize what they have been doing... serving the pigs who serve themselves. The dogs had no knowledge of survival as the only survival skill they ever needed was obedience and staying in line. When the shift came, could the dogs survive? It would be much harder to adapt when required. A little forethought and a bit of exercise in living for survival cannot be a bad thing.

There is a movie out which my sister told me about. It is a documentary about suburbia and the end of gas. If there was a crash and oil and gas was no longer available... the people of the suburbs, who, generally speaking, are totally dependent on what their money can do for them, would be in a lot of trouble. There is no food for miles, there is nothing for miles but houses in cul-de-sacs. Gardening is done by some but for a large majority... all food is purchased miles away. Myself, as a city dweller am not in much better shape. I do not depend on gas directly, but I still do purchase a large majority of my food from the grocery store... like everyone else. Self sufficiency is a lofty goal for modern man who is so conditioned to the trade off. Work for money, money for whatever you want and need. There are a few people, however, that are self sufficient. They live within the flow. They live a terribly hard life just trying to make it through the day.

The homeless people, frowned on by so many, as non-contributors, would be the strongest and best equipped survivors if our money was all of a sudden no good. They can and do go without food, sleep where they must and brave whatever weather comes at them. They live off of a few bucks a day in some cases and judging from the many that I have conversed with, maintain a positive mind frame.

In Alberta, the modern day land of milk and honey, there is a mindset which bothers me immensely. I will share an example to illustrate this. I was walking with a coworker past a bus shelter and stashed behind the bench almost out of view of all passerby’s was an old mattress most certainly used as a shelter for a person or two. My coworker jokingly said, “Do you need to take a nap?” and pointed at the mattress. I replied, “That is pretty sad.” My coworker agreed with me but then added, “it is sad, in a place like Alberta there are enough jobs so that nobody needs to sleep out in the cold.” This may be somewhat true, although it is hard to get a job with no fixed address and the look of 20 years on the hard streets. Many people also have the type of persona that makes them unemployable or unwilling to hold down a job. What I think is sad is that we are all alone. If you are born with no advantages and make a couple of moves that land you out of a home... nobody is going to help you out. Brothers shunning brothers. “You know the rules of the game brother... it is not my fault you have no home.” That is a very very sad state of existence for humanity. All of us fending for ourselves, conditioned to the fact that this is the way it is: conditioned to be in a society and to contribute to it; conditioned to see through those that do not contribute as if they were invisible, savage and steps below them. I remember reading a quote by George Washington who justified imperialism at the time by calling the native people “savages”. Those civilizations have been destroyed since Washington uttered those words and leave the odd homeless wanderer as a reminder of what once was. Not much has changed from the masses of todays imperialists (everyday North Americans, maybe unaware, but the mindset is engrained deep). They look past the problems in their own backyard and stay blind to the pillaging globally. They make excuses that justify homelessness and separate them from it. They speak of jobs. Since they have one and are helping themselves, there is no need to help a homeless man who could just as easily help himself.

Needless to say, a quarter, a dollar, 2, 5 or 10 dollars is something that I have no problem forking out to help out a brother. I do not, and will never (so help me God) subscribe to the “Alberta mindset”. I will help out my brothers and sisters, blind to age, race, religion, sex, income... and hope that my brothers and sisters will do the same for me.

We may be in a society, but it seems unjust to me. I subscribe to the idea that society imposes itself upon an existing condition of perfection and in turn, removes perfection. Remove society... voila. Brothers and Sisters, man and woman kind... universal harmony... the kingdom. Could it really be that simple... ???

I digress, but it seems like I have learned something in the process so I will not complain.

Survival. Survival. Survival. The contract which binds man to injustice, convenience on one side of the globe, slavery across the board. A wall cracking and near rupture point... irreparable. Survival, a forgotten art. Stop kissing the slave masters ass and see what it feels like. Survival. Learn the skill. Survival. If it hits the fan you are up the creek in a major way. Survival.

This is a good example of my minds meandering. I was going to go and hitchhike, this much was clear to me... but when? I got my answer shortly enough. My red BMX bike, the bike that took me down that large hill took me lots of other places as well. I remember the night as if it were yesterday. I went to the Sidetrak Cafe, a local music venue to watch “Mood Ruff”, a Canadian (Winnipeg) Hip Hop faction which I feel do some very nice work. I was feeling great after the show that they had put on. It was well after midnight and I had to work the next morning. I got outside and it was pouring rain. This put a real quick strain on the great mood that I was in. I walked into the parking lot where I had locked up my bike to find no bike. My bike was stolen. My bike... stolen. No more bike. It took a few seconds to register this fact, but after it registered was a very amazing and memorable moment for me.

Here I am, alone in a muddy parking lot with rain pouring down on my head. I am getting wet fairly quickly and I realize that my bike has been stolen. The bike that I use to get to work and back, the bike that I use to go to get groceries, the bike that I use to go wherever I need to go... the bike... I use... to help get me through my regular... everyday... life. I start laughing. First internally but soon enough it becomes uncontainable. I start laughing out loud. I start to walk the 20 blocks that I have to walk to get home. The instrument that helped me through my regular everyday life has been taken from me. This would normally be seen as a bad thing. I saw it as liberating. At that moment I realized how free I was. I should have been worrying about how I was going to get from point A to point B, but I found that journey to be trivial and not worth taking for the time being. Now that my bike is gone, I need not worry about the point A to point B. I am going on another journey.

On my walk home, in the pouring rain, I had a smile that could not be taken off of my face. I made my decision that day that I was going to go into work and announce my resignation, and I was going to start getting ready for my trek across the country. I had to work out the end of the month as I did not want to leave this company, which all in all was decent enough, high an dry. I also had to move to a new house. The moment these two things were taken care of... I was gone. I had rounded up some supplies. I got a big backpack. I got a sleeping bag, a bivibag, a rain coat and some granola and fruit bars. I packed light with 5 sets of shirts, underwear, socks and two pairs of pants. I put on some steel toe work boots which were a better all weather alternative and that was it. I also had a little shaving kit with soap and deodorant, a plastic bowl and cutlery, an empty book and a pen. All in all the pack weighed 80 pounds give or take a few. I was as ready as I could be and had nothing to hold me back. I was going to go wherever the currents took me and see whatever was in its path, meet whomever was riding that same wave and see what would happen.