Signs of the Sojourner is a game about the everyday grind.
A relatively long time ago I worked as a candy vendor. I never thought too much on the gig, I was just another link in a supply chain. In California candy is big business, always has been. Generations upon generations of communities wasting their money, rotting their teeth, and taking in empty calories like a steak meal. Such is life.
My bosses spotted my talent for the job even before I did. I was, and still am, notoriously private. They knew all I cared about was sleep, video games, and self-preservation. In that order. So that meant no worries about what I could say or what I would do if left to my own devices. A very handy soft skill for such work.
They knew I was, and still am, a notoriously agreeable misanthrope. As in, people are people, and that's not good or bad. So they knew I could be at an east Oakland sideshow, a Bakersfield honky-tonk, or a Maritime Hall rave and there would be no problems and no concessions. An attractive person wants a discount? "Don't we all." A whole nazi denigrates my race to my face? My response, "Cool, so you need two Laffy taffies and a pixie stick. Got it." That kind of thing.
But most of all, they knew I hated the job with a passion. I hated my role in the systematic dismantling of communities, I hated that I couldn't disassociate who I felt myself to be from what I was doing, I hated the guilt. The issue was though, I am bound by the promises I make. It's a family thing, started way before I got here. Fucking sucks, but it is what it is.
This skill actually turned out to be best for any job. Keep the promises you make, but be very careful about the promises you make.
Anyway, I say all of this because once again it was my boss that fired me. He was an old rave promoter from bad London who came over here and just never left.
He sat me down at the back of a farm party outside of Tracy and said, "Hey kid, you're done." I asked him why, because by this point I was getting really tired of getting fired by people that generally only let people leave under the dirt. He said, "Cause you're a preacher playing punker, you knob. Enroll in college, do computer science, I'm paying for it. After you're done If you wanna do this, then fine, but I'm betting you won't."
I joined the military instead because fuck him. Try and save my life, fuck out of here, Billy Pistols sounding ass, I'll just find a better way to get shot. Yep, I really showed him.
Anyway, I say all that to highlight to one particular person that "so-called" good people do bad things. Time doesn't absolve, just contextualizes. And to avoid the people in my inbox asking behind like, all the riot activity. I don't know what to tell you brodie. I'm not the person for that conversation anymore, seriously. There is still time for the right people to do the right thing, and I believe that will happen. I know, can't help it.
Shouts to info. rip TB rip TC rip Tall-T. Love is wise, hatred is foolish. Get out there and do great things, we believe in you. Also Jobs.
The Protoculture Mixtape : Issue : Games : Homonymous
