WARPED TOUR 2001 - August 4 (Rounding Second)
With $11 between LJ and myself, and the last meal being a burger twelve hours ago, the pains of our stomachs definitely outscreamed those of our pockets. Switched stopped at a NJ Turnpike rest area, in which a Burger King trailer temporarily stood to replace the building under construction. The menu?Junior Whopper
Whopper
Double Whopper
Fries
Yes, three variations of the same thing...at 10 in the morning. But when you're just hitching a ride, you can't be picky. I chose the Junior Whopper and LJ settled with the One-Size-Fits-All french fries. What with the pricey makeshift BK, buying our little breakfast left us with $7.We arrived at Randalls Island, Manhattan, NY at 11:30 a.m. Switched's bus and trailer were allowed to pass through the back gate, but our car was not. We eventually followed without paying, and found our way to the backstage area. Don't we always? That seems to be the easy part.
The view of the water and mainland was nice, provided that you could see through the New York dust that hovered in the air as teenagers moshed in their little pits. To kill time, we walked around and I met the members of Jepetto (Annapolis, MD). At noon, the heat struck and we decided to cool off in Rehab's bus. At about 3 p.m., we paid our dues by watching Switched (from the stage), and Alien Ant Farm, Rehab, The Vandals, and The Ataris from the immediate surroundings.
Then at 6 p.m., it happened. I became homesick. I was tired, hungry, dirty, broke, and was breaking into hives from the layers of dust pasted on my skin. The girls from Missouri disappeared with our bags, we had nowhere to spend the night, and we had $7. I just couldn't fathom spending another 30 hours that way. I was leaning towards hitching a ride to the downtown Greyhound station and charging a bus ticket home on my trusty little credit card.
But something stopped me. I figured that if we could find a ride to Jersey the following day, we would have a free ride home, since LJ's friend was driving from D.C. and back to see the show. We needed a plan, so we sat on a rock (as pictured):
You must be wondering why we're smiling. No, it wasn't just because we were taking a picture. The misery I felt that day was beyond that. It was I'm-about-to-cry-and-if-you-touch-me-I-might-kill-you-unless-you're-a-member-of-a-cool-band-and-you-can-help-me-misery. We were smiling for the picture because we eventually solved our problems.
Well, first, we found the girls with our bags. Getting the bags then led to me getting a hold of a long-sleeved shirt, which helped prevent my skin from breaking out into more hives. Next, we found a place to stay for the night. It turns out that LJ had a cousin in the city and he was willing to provide us with food, a shower, and a bed for that evening. Lastly, to solve the money issue, we begged. Begged, yes.
So there you have it. We raised enough money to up our funds to $22. We took a free bus to Harlem, and a cab to LJ's cousin's place. After a 6" sub and a shower, I passed out on a BED!
