New York..
Imagine just like that going from a place where 2 cars driving down the road plus a moose would be the max to one where 30-50 cars might be racing down the Avenue at once.
People move fast here..
In Alaska when I'd cross the street,even if I was in the wrong,the car would slow down,we might even wave at each other and exchange pleasantries before going on our merry ways.My first experience crossing Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn came very close to being my last..and I do remember the middle fingers and the FUCK YOUS!! directed towards me as somehow I avoided the oncoming rush.
Walks in the woods were now replaced by walks down Atlantic Avenue,and the predators were no longer bears and the Alaskan mosquitoes,but rather folks willing to sell you drugs of any sort,sex,and guns.
The corner stores featured cashiers you couldn't see as they would be covered by some kind of bulletproof protection,and if you went to the right corner store,that same cashier could assist you in playing an illegal "numbers" game.
Culture had changed too in the 4 years since I left the Lower 48.gone were long haired hippies,replaced by men in short,carefully groomed hair,women in fashionable dresses,wearing polyester clothes and jewelry and going to something called Discos.
In 1976,I made the move from the Matanuska Valley in Alaska to Park Slope Brooklyn New York. From the Lord's Land to the Shepherd's House.
In my first week in New York,I left the front door unlocked at the Shepherd's House something one didn't have to worry about in Alaska.That resulted in the house being burglarized. A few days later in the same week,,the car door I left unlocked permitted the theft of the one of the Shepherd's House's car to be an easy one. Welcome to New York! This was the New York that Gerald Ford had told to Drop Dead a little earlier.
The acoustic guitar worship services didn't quite fit the aesthetic of speakers hanging out windows blaring disco music at every other house up and down the street.The aesthetic of the neighborhood didn't really mesh with a bunch of white Northern California Jesus Freaks and a black guy fresh from Alaska in this mostly Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood either,but here we were.
G.O.in Brooklyn in some ways was less rigid than what was in Alaska. We could go some places alone.I often found myself wandering to the Brooklyn Public Library. There were still no TV's allowed. but there were fewer taboos against reading the newspaper,and some movies we could actually attend!
First movie I attended:Rocky
I was interested in attending "All the Presidents Men" as well as "Looking for Mr Goodbar" however I knew by either lightning striking or an "elder"seeing walk in or out of the theater,that it wouldn't be a good thing,so I didn't see them.
Our allowance went up from $5 to $7. The increase allowed be to save a couple weeks allowance in order to go to Shea Stadium to see Mets games. First Mets game I attended was vs the Philadelphia Phillies.
After beer was poured on me at a game,I did worry about a confrontation with the "elders"
As a diehard Mets fan,it is painful to admit that the first World Series game I ever attended was Game 4 of the 1976 World Series between the New York Yankees and Cincinnati Reds (Big Red Machine) I never was too fond of the Reds,but sure got a kick out of seeing the Reds clinch the World Series at Yankee Stadium..wasn't going to gloat too much however,particularly after witnessing a couple exhuberant Reds fans leave Yankee Stadium with red faces and red blood coming out of their mouths and noses.
I voted in the 1976 Presidential Election. It was the first Presidential election I was eligible to vote. G.O. generally didn't encourage participation,but there was talk about "Born Again" candidate Jimmy Carter,so no one was going to stop me from voting. My first Presidential vote was for Independent candidate,Senator Eugene McCarthy.
New York's G.O church,instead of a bakery to support it had a Housecleaning service for "the sisters" and for the "brothers" there was "The New Life Service Company" an auto vinyl and leather repair company.New Life would service Auto Dealers throughout the New York Metro and Long Island.
Fixing vinyl or leather seats on automobiles was not my stong suit,turned simple jobs into ones that required another repairman to bail me out. Destroyed an entire used car lot once,and managed to draw the ire of car dealers from Manhattan to Syosset. Began to question whether this was God's calling for me. Said one elder to me "If not for New Life,you'd probably be a Bohemian reciting poetry and talking philosophy in some coffeeshop>" Best part of working for New Life was often being left alone driving from one dealer to another,free to listen to WMCA talk radio and "forbidden music"..and oh yeah unknowingly destroying the leather seat in New York Yankees star Reggie Jackson's Mercedes.
Then there was James. James was a man about my age who lived across the street from the G.O. run commune on Sterling Place in Brooklyn. James reached out to us like no one else in the neighborhood. Discovered that James did not know how to read,nor had he ever ventured on the Subway to go to Manhattan. Wondered aloud to the "elders" whether my calling was to finish my degree,and teach in order to help folks like James. Finishing school would mean leaving New Life,and in the "elders" eyes,not good,so finding new ways to fail daily continued.. A day in New York never went by without being yelled at,cursed at,or honked at. It didn't stop me from at the Brooklyn Public Library,mailing off college admission info to be delivered to my mom's house in Connecticut..
Alone in the communal house,I quietly turn on a radio to listen to "forbidden music".I hear Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" for the first time. It was on "Mellow 92" WKTU I find ways to listen to WKTU in hopes on hearing this song again till one day,"Mellow 92" becomes Disco 92,and hopes for hearing Tangled up in Blue become slim once more..
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Power went out for 2 days in 1977. Took a stroll around the neighborhood..saw cars pull up to department stores,and with chains,tear down the gates used to protect the stores.People then walked into the stores,took TV's Radio's.Turntables. At that moment,I knew I had to find a way out of New York..
1978,the Rev.Jim Jones commits mass murder in Jonestown Guyana.As a result of this act,every seemingly alternative religious group is under scrutiny including Gospel Outreach. My mother begins asking questions again. This is a tough time for my mother,as not only is she dealing with me as a part of this strange communal church group,but at about the same time I moved into the Lord's Land,but my brother Howie left Howard University to become a full time organizer for the Communist Workers Party. My answer to her was we were nothing like that although I was very aware of the sermons warning against "backsliders" coupled with stories of bad things happening to those who left G.O, The "elders" had after all warned what could happen to me if I returned to school..
1979-The decision was made for G.O to pull out of Brookyn and settle in Bayside Queens. In Bayside Queens,one was not going to hear Disco Music blaring out of mostly single family homes.There was going to be more of an effort to "blend in" more.Much of the long hair vanished from the "brothers" and "sisters" for the most part ditched the long dresses for something more fashionable.A TV was allowed in the house.
That year Bob Dylan "got saved" and as a result it was okay to listen to Bob Dylan again,well,at least his Christian album. He made an appearance on Saturday Night Live,and for the first time,we were permitted to watch the show..of course with the sound turned down except for when Dylan performed.. Dylan performed "Gotta Serve Somebody. I was secretly hoping his second number would be "Tangled Up in Blue" but alas it wasn't to be..
It was announced in late 1979,that G.O. would be establishing a new group in Denver Colorado. I knew I had to get out of New York. Denver had mountains just like Alaska."Maybe",I thought being in a less intense place might allow me to recapture the type of faith I had in Alaska. I also knew I had relatives there,and in the back of my mind,I thought Denver might be an easier place for me to transition out of G.O. if I couldn't.
I told the "elders" I felt "called" to Denver,and in 1980,hands were layed on me,and I was on my way to Denver..
Keep writing, David! Enjoy reading about your experiences as you explored and traveled!
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