The parking lot plays an important role in hippie culture, especially outside hippie concerts. It serves as a center of social activity and commerce, and it can even be a temporary residence. Before, after and during (for those unlucky enough to fail to secure a "miracle" ticket) a hippie concert, colloquially known as a "show," hippies will gather in "the lot" to engage in such sanctioned hippie recreational activities as Hacky Sack, Frisbee and Wiffle Ball. Also found in the lot are various vendors peddling goods on a strip known as "Shakedown Street." Here, normally indolent individuals are transformed into shrewd entrepreneurs offering everything from food to clothing to narcotics. After the show, the parking lots in the immediate area, especially those adjacent to Wal-Mart, are often transformed into short-term hippie settlements akin to refugee camps.
No comments:
Post a Comment