Thought Blog Ep. 1

By Nick Ruiz

Punk in corporate’s clothing

From jazz to metal

Sax, red and black to long hair and to the relinquishing of slacks

My parents, teachers, and bosses instilled the rebel spirit in me from the jump

People in positions and appearances that demand everything related to compliance on the surface

Antithetical authority, we must dissent

All the music that went against the grain of our culture and marked the shift in generations 

In high school we played Killing In The Name Of, meanwhile 

My brother told me that The Chronic CD we blasted as kids was from our mom

Hip-Hop is still polarizing even being a major part of pop culture. Metal is still referred to as “devil music”

Punks never die, they adopt a collar and play it a little cooler. Tucked under the surface is that old

We went from public controversy of classic music to having it as background music in stores

Professional with a touch of wild heart

We played NWA and Korn at work 

We have since continued the commitment of raging against the dehumanizing aspects of a job

A little bit of chaos here and some unorthodox action there

When given the reins, I resolved that I would follow their example of wild but compassionate

 Work is a box where most of us feel we have to sand off our personality in exchange for the customer service mask. A “professional.” 

There is a great deal of room for us to express ourselves and make connections

It is also necessary as we are not perpetual motion machines. We’ll burnout if we spend all day in a rigid environment

Rebelliousness is best served unpredictably 

The setup- The Chronic and Tupac

The greatest trick a punk ever pulled was making the system believe they gave up.

A commitment to punk is a commitment to the people; an antidote to the graying of our identities

The sterilized environments.