Date:         Sun,  5 Apr 92 18:24:33
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dace.ecc@argonet.co.uk (David Eccles)
Subject:      The Deadhead debate - an English Perspective(long)

Woa! Can't remember the last time I read and closely followed all this much
mail - this related stuff on Deadheads and drugs and buses and all its spin
offs has been an intersesting glimpse into American psyche..and I'll stop
before getting heavy and pretentious...
In '65 I was a "mod" and while all my mates were into Tamla I discovered Dylan
then Jefferson airplane then the Byrds then never looked back...then '67 and
all that stuff. The Vietnam war was a focus for our student play
politics...but things actually did matter..and for a while some of us did
believe we would change the world...
VW bit now..honest. Vw vans were cheap (REALLY CHEAP) and carried lotsa
people...and were ideal for amazing paintjobs done by 20 people at once...
Dunno how they became "hippy" vans (god I HATE that term)..but people used to
"drop out" and just travel and live in vans...nowadays the descendants are New
Age Travellers who get the same kinda hate we did when we were young..
The surfing crowd also poularised them over here too....as "bums" they were
lumped as "hippies" and got bile from the world.....
Interestingly I consider myself a Grateful dead freak..but only recently did I
become aware that this meant something else. An american student on exchange
saw my van and asked if I was a deadhead...now over here deadhead means idiot
who cant remember anything...what was I saying..
Seems that the root is the stereotyping which is perpetuated daily about
everything..including drivers of old buses..
Every time we return from crossing the channel British Customs see us a mile
away..you can seee them nudge each other and we always get stopped....yet when
I look at the membership of SSVC I dont see hordes of dope smoking ageing
hippies or young kids dropping anything that is rumoured to give a buzz....yet
at work they refer to the club as The Spliff Screen Club..
Any way..droned on sorry, but isn't it funny what suddenly generates a mega
mailbox!
BTW as long as the littlun only has CV joints in his toybox I think that kind
addiction is socially acceptable...?
"The whole world's watching..."
Dave
-- 
                       
**dace.ecc@argonet.co.uk**   Hal 'ECHO' Eccles - WFRP, X-files, etc...
                             '72 1303S Ragtop
                             David (bill payer)Eccles - SSVC, Volkswagens etc 
                             '67 Split; '72 Bug