old (true) story from old lj entry.
LAROUCHE sucked me in:
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my escape from cult life!
my life can be so bizarre.
while i was walking on walnut street to find some quality granny apples yesterday, this woman with a stand, yelling loud enough for me to hear even with my music blasting through my headphones "DO YOU HATE BUSH? DO YOU WANT TO GET HIM OUT OF OFFICE?" I looked over her way, as this is type of outburst is typical in Philadelphia, but nonetheless worth endorsing even if only through a mere head nod.
I was hooked in.
The woman waved me over, and me being the bored pedestrian I was, went. She started talking a lot, saying how Bush didn't even definitely win this election and her group was going to try to find justice somewhere. I did write her off slightly as an overzealous leftist, but hey! I love those people. I hate ambivalence, and a little psychoses is always appreciated in lieu of apathy. So, she started talking about how her group was going to try to stop Bush from deprivatizing social security (something i feel strongly about) and would I like to help out?
I was like, sure. I filled out some form, she handed me some literature, and said I'd get a call later.
So, I went with my day and only glimpsed over the literature she gave me. She called me and off we went to West Philly to where her group meeting was. She picked me up, with this girl named Vickie in shotgun. Vickie looked like she was my age in the dark, but when I saw her in the light she was pretty wrinkly and weird looking. Sheila (the woman I met on the street) kept calling everyone a Nazi and going on tangents about how we're headed to fascism.
I was pretty amused.
We got to the meeting and people were staring at me a little bit. The office was big but had a weird smell to it. I overheard someone say to Sheila "you found her in the field?" I noticed everyone knew each other and was pretty close knit. We went to the back room and these 2 dudes were singing baritone to the piano.
It was kind of peculiar.
Then they went into their whole schpeal about how LaRouche is the candidate they're trying to get elected and went through this generic run through of his beliefs, which I didn't even pay close attention to. Finally the meeting started and this really possessed looking guy started talking for like 20 minutes using an analogy of the sound barrier, saying how we're in a time of transition from subatomic to super-atomic speed, either going to explode or pass through the barrier with resilience (not exactly the strongest argument, but whatever).
Then this older dude started talking. He was trying to show how the ideology of the baby boomer generation has led to the degradation of our culture. It was mildly interesting at first. But he was saying all this bizarre stuff like how existentialism has embedded itself within the psyche of Americans leading to perpetual despair (which is such a reductionist interpretation of existentialism which I called him on) and even more stangely, that the fitness craze is due to our nation's subconscious training for a fascist regime in which anti-intellectualism and only sheer aesthetics (like the Nazi regime) will matter.
I was beside myself. I hate to judge, but seriously, what a fucking freak show. I knew these people were weird from the get-go, but looking at all these people ENTHRALLED with this man's gibberish disguised as a thesis left me really pissed.
I wanted to get out.
I had already listened to this man for like an hour and a half, and the one before him for the same length of time. I looked at his slides (yes, he used slides) and saw he was only 1/3 done. I then looked at my phone to see a text Scott had sent me. It said "Please dear God tell me you're not at a LaRouche meeting." I was!
FUCK!
So, I realized I probably was in some weird cult meeting in which case I told the girl next to me, Vickie, that I wanted to go out for a smoke (I don't smoke). I walked outside only to have her follow me. She said she'd be right back, she was getting her coat, and that she'd smoke one with me.
I started flipping out internally. I had like 10 seconds to make a choice. I didn't have any cigarettes even to justify my fake reason for escape.
I had to leave.
I didn't even really know how far I was away from my apartment. I had been like a 5-10 minute drive.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Vickie will be back in 5,4,3...
I fucking jetted. I just started to run as fast as I could. I made it down an alley and this guy was like "hey girl! are you alright?" I remember saying "now I am" as I ran past him.
I finally saw Chestnut Street. I was at 72nd and Chestnut. I live at 22nd and Walnut. So I was like 50 blocks away. I was willing to walk. I called Scott and he directed me toward a subway stop. Sheila called me while this happened and left a voice mail asking where I went. I thought they might send a car out looking for me, so I was being especially paranoid. I thought I even heard someone calling my name as I made it to the subway platform. I felt like I was in the Net or something and LaRouche had stolen my identity.
Needless to say, it was a very weird night. VERY WEIRD. However, when these type of things happen, I never think they're that weird. I take them as is, almost as if they're expected. Hence probably their prevalence in my life. Scott was like when I got home "this type of stuff only happens to you."
Yeah, me and Jerri Blank. I have realized my life is a parody of an after school special.
Oh lord. Cult life is not for me.
PS: When I went home I looked up the group (which I should have done previously) and yes, LaRouche is indeed a cult. Check this out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46883-2004Oct20.html
LAROUCHE sucked me in:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
my escape from cult life!
my life can be so bizarre.
while i was walking on walnut street to find some quality granny apples yesterday, this woman with a stand, yelling loud enough for me to hear even with my music blasting through my headphones "DO YOU HATE BUSH? DO YOU WANT TO GET HIM OUT OF OFFICE?" I looked over her way, as this is type of outburst is typical in Philadelphia, but nonetheless worth endorsing even if only through a mere head nod.
I was hooked in.
The woman waved me over, and me being the bored pedestrian I was, went. She started talking a lot, saying how Bush didn't even definitely win this election and her group was going to try to find justice somewhere. I did write her off slightly as an overzealous leftist, but hey! I love those people. I hate ambivalence, and a little psychoses is always appreciated in lieu of apathy. So, she started talking about how her group was going to try to stop Bush from deprivatizing social security (something i feel strongly about) and would I like to help out?
I was like, sure. I filled out some form, she handed me some literature, and said I'd get a call later.
So, I went with my day and only glimpsed over the literature she gave me. She called me and off we went to West Philly to where her group meeting was. She picked me up, with this girl named Vickie in shotgun. Vickie looked like she was my age in the dark, but when I saw her in the light she was pretty wrinkly and weird looking. Sheila (the woman I met on the street) kept calling everyone a Nazi and going on tangents about how we're headed to fascism.
I was pretty amused.
We got to the meeting and people were staring at me a little bit. The office was big but had a weird smell to it. I overheard someone say to Sheila "you found her in the field?" I noticed everyone knew each other and was pretty close knit. We went to the back room and these 2 dudes were singing baritone to the piano.
It was kind of peculiar.
Then they went into their whole schpeal about how LaRouche is the candidate they're trying to get elected and went through this generic run through of his beliefs, which I didn't even pay close attention to. Finally the meeting started and this really possessed looking guy started talking for like 20 minutes using an analogy of the sound barrier, saying how we're in a time of transition from subatomic to super-atomic speed, either going to explode or pass through the barrier with resilience (not exactly the strongest argument, but whatever).
Then this older dude started talking. He was trying to show how the ideology of the baby boomer generation has led to the degradation of our culture. It was mildly interesting at first. But he was saying all this bizarre stuff like how existentialism has embedded itself within the psyche of Americans leading to perpetual despair (which is such a reductionist interpretation of existentialism which I called him on) and even more stangely, that the fitness craze is due to our nation's subconscious training for a fascist regime in which anti-intellectualism and only sheer aesthetics (like the Nazi regime) will matter.
I was beside myself. I hate to judge, but seriously, what a fucking freak show. I knew these people were weird from the get-go, but looking at all these people ENTHRALLED with this man's gibberish disguised as a thesis left me really pissed.
I wanted to get out.
I had already listened to this man for like an hour and a half, and the one before him for the same length of time. I looked at his slides (yes, he used slides) and saw he was only 1/3 done. I then looked at my phone to see a text Scott had sent me. It said "Please dear God tell me you're not at a LaRouche meeting." I was!
FUCK!
So, I realized I probably was in some weird cult meeting in which case I told the girl next to me, Vickie, that I wanted to go out for a smoke (I don't smoke). I walked outside only to have her follow me. She said she'd be right back, she was getting her coat, and that she'd smoke one with me.
I started flipping out internally. I had like 10 seconds to make a choice. I didn't have any cigarettes even to justify my fake reason for escape.
I had to leave.
I didn't even really know how far I was away from my apartment. I had been like a 5-10 minute drive.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Vickie will be back in 5,4,3...
I fucking jetted. I just started to run as fast as I could. I made it down an alley and this guy was like "hey girl! are you alright?" I remember saying "now I am" as I ran past him.
I finally saw Chestnut Street. I was at 72nd and Chestnut. I live at 22nd and Walnut. So I was like 50 blocks away. I was willing to walk. I called Scott and he directed me toward a subway stop. Sheila called me while this happened and left a voice mail asking where I went. I thought they might send a car out looking for me, so I was being especially paranoid. I thought I even heard someone calling my name as I made it to the subway platform. I felt like I was in the Net or something and LaRouche had stolen my identity.
Needless to say, it was a very weird night. VERY WEIRD. However, when these type of things happen, I never think they're that weird. I take them as is, almost as if they're expected. Hence probably their prevalence in my life. Scott was like when I got home "this type of stuff only happens to you."
Yeah, me and Jerri Blank. I have realized my life is a parody of an after school special.
Oh lord. Cult life is not for me.
PS: When I went home I looked up the group (which I should have done previously) and yes, LaRouche is indeed a cult. Check this out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46883-2004Oct20.html