Portland is a weirdly wonderful city filled with generous do gooders, even while they're trying to be all cool, aloof and alt-cultural. PDX Pop Now and Portland Bridge Festival were teeming with hipsters, hippies, students, divas and those who will not be classified. Young men with trying-too-hard mustaches and young women with handcrafted skirts and treasures from the Goodwill bins, yards and yards of silk of sarongs, crinolines and the special clothes one saves for Burning Man. They were all there, so present for the music enhancing their own unique vibe of sophistication. And yet...they couldn't help themselves. They were good. So good.
Standing in Rotture, (the warehouse turned music venue that has donated their space for the past five PDX Pop Now festivals), a teenager crowded in with a hundred other fans, listening to free music with her boyfriend. Standing next to her was my daughter, hanging out with her friends, just having fun. The teenager fainted and the surge of do-gooding began. My daughter and other strangers helped the woozy girl out into fresh air, got her water and something to eat, called her dad and stayed with her until she was well again and they were certain she'd be OK. Was the girl drunk or under the influence? No, she was just hot, thirsty and hungry. She'd forgotten to take care of herself. She'd locked her knees. We've all done that when the music was just too engrossing.
I joined the festival a couple hours later, dragging my youngest daughter along with me. This was sooo not her scene, a ten-year-old girl in a bright cotton sundress and red sandals, looking so clean and fresh, just like all these festival kids looked, not more than 10 years before. She and I stood at the edge of the crowded warehouse and watched for a while. During the course of one set, half a dozen scrubby, unwashed, tattooed, rough-around-the-edges kids came over one by one and said "Excuse me, would you like a set of ear plugs for your little girl?" They were so sweet, so generous, so delighted to see a need and go out of their way to take care of it. I said " yes, please and thank you" to every one of them, even though her ears were already suitably plugged. They were just so adorable and kind, I didn't want to discourage them with a , "no thanks - we're good." Random acts of kindness should be accepted whenever possible, even when you don't really need them. You can save them in a little spot in your heart for when you might need it later or can donate to some other stranger in need.
Out in the street, waiting for the next band, I saw countless acts of goodness. PDX Pop Now is volunteer run. Dozens of people carried equipment, wrapped cords, snapped pictures, poured drinks and picked up trash, all to shine a spotlight on Portland musicians. They kept it clean so it could be an all ages event and kept it free so everyone could be in on it. Everyone there had a small part in saving the world, one musician, one audience-member, one friend or stranger at a time.
Later, we walked over to the Portland Bridge Festival. Bearded, men dressed in brightly colored tutus and toting guitars (part of the band "Sneakin' Out) set up their equipment under the giant dome. Just another way to keep Portland weird.
We didn't stay long at this festival. My little girl had blisters on her feet from her new red shoes. We stopped by the KBOO radio booth (one of the festival's sponsors) and asked where one could find a bandaid. The guy manning the table dug in his wallet and handed over his emergency stash of bandages. What kind of person keeps bandaids in his wallet? A really good one who wants to be ready to help someone in need. Sometimes, all it takes is one bandaid, to save the world. At least one little girl's world.
Nice...
Posted by: Jerome | August 03, 2010 at 08:47 AM