Excitement and Dread
June 25, 1968
by Amy
There's a feeling of excitement coupled with dread. The vibes are off and then they're on again. I can go into Grant Park right now and find ten people who swear they're going to the convention. They aren't leaving the city... Oh no. They're definitely there and, in fact, we should all come too. But then there's this rumor...
That's how it goes. Everyone's coming but they've heard a rumor that there's going to be some kind of violence. Usually something preposterous like sex gas, which is a certain kind of tear gas that makes you want to have sex with the people around you. There is no such thing, as far as we've heard. And then, there's the rumor about the cops emitting an atrocious noise that will make you piss your pants involuntarily. That discussion sparked a debate as to whether it would just make you piss or if it would make you do something far more sinister in your underwear.
Most of these are scare tactics. Coleman is full of them. "Did you hear the latest..." I've taken to tuning him out. It's the only way.
Mostly I wish the Yips would hang loose on their rhetoric. Glasses won't say it, but he wishes the same thing. Daley's goons are trying to pin us down on their statements to the papers. We're trying to spread the word that we're two different groups. The Yips want Lincoln Park. It's not the same thing.
(Though I have to admit, it is funny how tied the city gets everytime the Yips talk to the papers. Disguising Yip girls as sex pots to seduce delegates is my favorite, though it makes Bea crazy to hear it. The only reason it makes me smile is that I keep picturing Little Toe having sex with a square from Cleveland. Funny, though I know it's counter-revolutionary.)
Dad called me last night to tell me that he's feeling the pinch, the slow turning of a large knob. He feels that he's a victim of it, but he's not sure how or why. Maybe it's time to introduce him to my good friend, Mary Jane. Though with the way things are going, he might already have her phone number.
