How Mainstream Can You Be?

I wrote this poem because I was found to be not mainstream enough to be on the Planning Commission. A few weeks later I heard that they removed the bench in front of Pacific Flavors in Old Town because no one mainstream ever used it. It made me wonder just who is mainstream?? Is it something I would aspire to? Is it discriminatory or discriminating to label someone "mainstream"?

I call it a conciliatory poem because I don't think people really have thought through the meaning of this label. and I think it is a dangerous one. People need to think about it.

HOW MAINSTREAM CAN YOU BE?
(a conciliatory poem)

Can you love old -growth redwoods and still be Mainstream?
Can you oppose clear-cuts and still be Mainstream?
Can you be a tree-sitter and still be Mainstream?
Can you talk to the homeless and still be Mainstream?
Can you be unemployed and still be Mainstream?
Can you be homeless and still be Mainstream?
Can you be disabled or handicapped and still be Mainstream?
Can you be mentally challenged and still be Mainstream?
Can you be gay or bisexual or transsexual and still be Mainstream?
Can you drink herbal tea and still be Mainstream?
Can you be a vegetarian or vegan and still be Mainstream?
Can you have long hair and still be Mainstream?
Can you wear dreads and still be Mainstream?
Can you have your natural hair color and still be Mainstream?
Can you wear a nose ring and still be Mainstream?
Can you oppose war and still be Mainstream?
Can you walk in a Peace March and still be Mainstream?
Can you live in an old house and still be Mainstream?
Can you live in the Clark District and still be Mainstream?
Can you be an artist and still be Mainstream?
Can you jam in a band and still be Mainstream?
Can you speak out for historic preservation and air quality and still be Mainstream?
Can you boycott drive-thrus and big box stores and still be Mainstream?
Can you be a non-native of Humboldt County and still be Mainstream?
Can you be native American and still be Mainstream?
Can you be a person of color and still be Mainstream?
Can you wear Birkenstocks and still be Mainstream?
Can you belong to a third party and still be Mainstream?
Can you read the Greenfuse and still be Mainstream?
Can you engage in civil disobedience and still be Mainstream?
Can you speak your conscience and still be Mainstream?

You can be Mainstream if you answer yes to fewer than five of the above questions. Then you may qualify for the Planning Commission. And you will be entitled to sit on a bench in Old Town.

Maybe if we didn’t have to invent criteria about who is or isn’t Mainstream we could accomplish a lot more to make Humboldt a liveable place with nice neighborhoods, good schools, parks and trails, and less traffic. These are things we all want and if we work on them together the things that separate us into Mainstream or not Mainstream do not really matter.