State of Love and Distrust

September 9th, 1992

I was in the stockroom at work, checking out the new inventory. Joe, my boss, was also observing the glossy new records. As he ripped open the boxes, he grumbled to himself.

"Fuckin' Grunge guys."

Due to the MTV Awards and the Singles release, Joe had begrudgingly restocked the Singles soundtrack, as well as Ten, Nevermind, Facelift, and Soundgarden's first couple of albums. In the stock, I saw some promo materials for Alice's upcoming album, Dirt.

The album cover caught my attention. On the cover, I could see a young woman with a striking resemblance to Demri, encased in some dried-up mud in the middle of the desert. With her hands gently placed over her body, the woman gave a blank stare into the distance. Upon further inspection, I realized it was just a model. She was also a stunning brunette with an identical dainty, doll-like appearance, but the real Demri seemed a lot more lively, and probably wouldn't want to look half-dead on an album cover.

Joe looked over and scoffed at the materials. "That already looks depressing."

Joe was a sweet man but had a thing against the "Grunge Guys" because he saw that they had "ended the careers" of glam metal bands. He was endlessly devoted to the likes of , Poison, Van Halen, and Guns N' Roses, among others. He mostly had a preference for bands who started out in LA. He believed wholeheartedly in hometown spirit.

My boss loved Hawaiian shirts, and pants that were a little too tight, and he wore his hair long and tall. Sometimes I felt as if he hadn't quite noticed that the eighties were over.

As we sorted through the boxes, Axl Rose's boisterous raspy singing blared through the store.

" Not bad kids, just stupid ones, yeah...Thought we'd own the world an' getting used was havin' fun. I said we're not sad kids, but lucid ones, yeah. Flowin' through life, not collecting anyone... So much out there, still so much to see. Time's too much to handle, time's too much for me. It drove me up the wall and drove me out of my mind... Can you tell me what this means, huh?

While Joe carried music of every kind in the store, his small act of protest against Grunge was to only play glam metal day in, and day out.

Joe continued to ramble, "I don't understand the trends these days. All these Grunge pretty boys are so sad and whiny. Boo fucking hoo. You're famous, making money, and have chicks lined down the block to sleep with you."

"Oh, I don't know," I said. "Fame seems pretty stressful sometimes. I don't think I want to be famous."

Joe snorted. "Well, a lot of people would die to be famous. Why do you think so many people come out here to LA? This is the city of dreams, darling."

"Can't relate very much. I worked in a church remember?"

"I do. Well, you're a bit different. Your friends are industry brats, but they're cute, so I put up with 'em."

"Um...OK?" I said.

"Well, dreams do happen here, but it's a tough place. Not everyone can handle LA. It attracts cool people, and then again, for every cool person, there's a hoard of parasites that come in...It's not what can I do for you ? It's what can ya do for me ? You get what I'm sayin'?"

"Yeah, I do."

When we were done going through the stock, Joe noticed the time.

"Well, I guess it's time to let you go for the day. Great job. I guess I'll be seeing you this weekend."

Unlike my previous adventure, I decided to ask for the next day off. Based on what happened last time with Kim and Marcy, who knew what was going to happen? Luckily, Joe was a pretty lenient boss.