The DK Kid

The youngster in line in front of me at Half-Price Books was proudly wearing a vintage Dead Kennedys shirt; a formerly black but now faded to grey number with their emblem emblazoned upon the front...cracked but still recognizable. The clerk--a gentleman slightly older than I-- took note of this and asked:

'So, you like the Dead Kennedys?'

The kid nods.

'The only reason I ask is whenever I see one of those shirts the person wearing it doesn't really even know who the band was and is just wearing the shirt cuz his girlfriend gave to him or something like that.'

The kid shrugs.

I snigger.

From here (and while keying in the Kid's book purchases*) the clerk started dropping a bunch of DK song titles seeking the kid's opinion of them.

'Holiday in Cambodia? Stealing People's Mail? The Prey? California Uber Alles?'

No reaction from the Kid as he stares down at the countertop that seperates him from his new-found music-inquisitor.

I jump in as the-- thus-far-- one-sided 'conversation' had jogged loose some old DK memories from my teen years.

'Too Drunk to (whistle noise**)? Let's Lynch the Landlord? Their cover of 'Viva Las Vegas'?'

The double-whammy of questioning fails to elicit a reaction from the Kid.

The clerk bags up the Kid's books and the silent fellow departs without ever saying a word.

I move up to the counter, lean over and say:

'I think his girlfriend bought him that shirt.'

The clerk replies:

'I think you're right. Did ya ever like The Fall?'

'Erm...yeah...there was a Fall record that Gavin Friday from the Virgin Prunes sang on...'

And so on.

T
(s'troo story)

*sure wish I had been paying attention to what books he was buying. Probably titles like 'Yeah...I'm Punk Rock' and the ever popular 'None of Your Damn Business, Clerk-Guy'

**Since I was in a store that caters to reader's young and old I found it necessary to self-censor the FUCK out of the title 'Too Drunk to Fuck'