Nestled into a north section of Alpha camp is the 420 Hotel, owned by an occupier. Bane, a 31 year old self defined street kid, maintains the space. It is one of the more efficiently engineered and spacious structures at the Occupy Portland site. Several tarps are held up by ropes tied to tree branches and stakes, the central room is about 15 feet square and to one side extends another 20 feet with an A frame. A futon, a cooler, a bale of hay and an overturned bucket serve as seats, surrounding a pole in the middle stacked on a milk crate which supports the roof. The ground is insulated with hay, and the area to the side is lined with sleeping bags and backpacks. This place is designated to be a "crash spot" for new settlers to stay for a maximum of 2 nights, enough time Bane deems to get oneself fixed up with a space and a tent of ones own. The other purpose the hotel serves is to provide an out of the way safe area for people to smoke marijuana, away from the public and the police.
He has one consistent roomate, Mark, a heroin addicted artist who uses the tarps as a canvas for his surrealist depictions. His sketchbook is filled with elongated, dark, swirled figures, there is no doubting his talent. However, it is unfortunate that his inspiration comes in the form of a torturous intoxicant, without which he is reduced to being dope sick and sweating in his sleeping bag until he can find his next hit. He is mild mannered and respectful, he prefers to remain anonymous, and is often sitting quietly in the dark in a corner of the tent.
Bane estimates that around 40 people a day pop in and out of the hotel for one reason or another. The tent is a social place first and foremost, and many people stop by just to enjoy the company and conversation. Discussion about the movement itself is not as present as one could hope for, but everyone is aware of it and many visitors are prime examples of victims of the corrupted system. They tend to approach the protest movement with more violent suggestions than the founders would support, but this stems from their profound anger at a government which has left many of them unemployed and cynical.
Many of the clients of the hotel are chronically homeless, many deeming themselves a streetkid. They may have an affiliation with a particular crew, for example the Lost Boyz, or Sick Boy crew. This provides them with a sense of belonging and loyalty to a larger group, providing protection. The two parks have designated areas for certain crews, and members of opposing ones walk through them with caution. Many of the kids I have spoken with grew up in foster care or broken homes and were fending for themselves since being a young teen. Some of the people are "freight hoppers" and regularly travel around the country by hitching a ride on a freight train. They discuss certain types of cars one hopes to get on, how their voices get horse shouting over the din but describing how one eventually gets lulled to sleep by the clonking and banging of the cars on the tracks. Hitchhiking is also a regular mode of transportation, Bane has traveled as far east as Chicago on these methods.
Many visitors come to inquire as to where to find certain substances, or to offer them for sale. People regularly make business transactions of marijuana, mushrooms, acid, and alcohol as well as providing information on where to get harder drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine. Drugs are a form of finances as well as a medication to numb the symptoms of trauma many people here have experienced. They are also a form of social lubricant, as a bowl of marijuana is often offered around the circle. This has etiquette built in as well, unspoken of course, but if someone wants to smoke it is understood that they will share with whoever else is in the space, even if you don't know the others. If someone doesn't ever offer their own goods and always accepts from others, there is a subtle scolding of the person which occurs. If someone smokes more than one toke it is also shunned. Often, a dealer will send a bowl or a joint around the space before or after making a sale. This can serve as providing a sample, showing their client the product they have to offer, and encourage a transaction. Another tactic I observed was that if one person was selling, and their friend was in need of some money, they would negotiate a bargain. One option would be, only if there was considerable trust within the relationship, that the dealer would front product to their friend, who would then sell it and keep a percentage of the profit, while returning most of it to the dealer. Another way is for the friend to go find someone who wants to make a purchase, and tells them it is slightly more expensive than what the dealer actually sells for, and then bring the customer to the seller, and the friend pockets the difference. The drug trade is based on word of mouth, if one person didn't have what the customer was looking for they would offer up some information on who might, and the person would follow the tips around the camp until they were successful in their search.
Cigarettes also play a central role for many in the camp. A concept borrowed, like many, from the Rainbow Festivals, is one called "nick at night" which is represented by one man, Joe, at the Occupy settlement. Joe rolls several hundred cigarettes with tobacco a day and wanders around the camp yelling "if you need a cigarette, I got a cigarette, if you got a cigarette, I need a cigarette!". It is customary to invite him into ones tent, and ideally make a trade of something in exchange for the cigarette. Another option is if you accept his gift, pay him back with a cigarette at a later time. This last process is common among all smokers, since "bumming one" is extremely common. Its sort of smoker etiquette that if you have some to spare you are essentially expected to give one out if asked. A common excuse is "I only have one left" which is understood to be an acceptable excuse. I saw one smoker use this only to get called out by the person asking who pointed out the cigarettes tucked behind each ear. Hanging out in a tent at occupy pretty much guarnatees that you will be inundated with cigarette smoke. Bane would usually encourage people to smoke by the entrance to the tent if there were nonsmokers inside.
Some interesting characters frequented the 420 hotel. John and Annie, Cruz and Jamie, Bob and Ali were three couples who could often be found around the tent. The first pair were addicted to methamphetamine, had recently returned from Northern California where they were hoping to find marijuana to sell to support their habit. They had left their dog, Job, a one eyed pitbull in the custody of Bane at the 420 hotel. The couple were self-described "dirty kids", and regularly got high on meth and stayed awake for up to a week at a time. They did not camp at Occupy but lived instead in an abandoned space underneath a bridge. They talked about "flailing" which is being high on meth, and violence most of the time. They never used the drug in the tent however. They usually talked about beating people up, teaching people a lesson, and punching someone in the mouth for what they said. I never actually saw them be violent so it stands to wonder how much is just talk. They insulted the Occupy movement, making fun of it and dismissing it as "a bunch of housey kids thinking its cool to live outdoors". They thought it was stupid for people who had homes to go to to come live at the camp site. They took a lot of pride in being streetkids, and often reminded people that they were there before the movement and would be there after the camp shut down. The clientele in the tent tended to change if John and Annie were present due to their crass and blunt nature.
Cruz and Jamie were addicted to heroin, and he sold marijuana to support the habit. It appeared that she had left her "indoor" life and family when she became involved with Cruz and started using the drug. They spent most of their time wandering around the city trying to sell to earn money for their addiction. They were expelled from the camp by John and Annie because they had been staying in their space under the bridge and had left it messy and with dirty needles. John upended the tent one night, yelled at the couple to leave and never come back or he would beat them, and then invited scavengers over to take anything of value. Cruz and Jamie were spotted after that a few times in the area but never returned to the tent or the camp.
Bob and Ali were not a couple but seemed to spend most of their time together. Bob was starting a new life over after a divorce and time in jail. He sold ecstasy and acid purely for income as he had stopped using hard drugs after struggling with addiction. He often provided helpful gear, donating a futon and then a grill to the 420 hotel. Ali set up her tent behind it and seemed to be sort of re-living her younger years through the occupy experience.
One of the leaders of A-camp is known as Gutterpunk. His face was covered by a beard and tattoos on his cheeks. His voice, like many of those representing A-camp, is harsh and croaking, a result of the substance use. He is an alcoholic and addicted to heroin, as well as cigarettes. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was one of the kinder hearted drug addicts. He did beat people up, and carried around a metal chain with a padlock on one end known as a "smiley" but, if you were on his team, he would actually be helpful and funny.
Having pets was common of many occupants of the camp. One had a black kitten which rode on his shoulder wearing a matching studded black jacket to his owners, her name was Marley Killface. One man carried around a rat and would tell anyone who listened all of the great abilities of their species. The rat liked to snuggle in the hood of his sweatshirt, giving a new meaning to the term “hoodrat”. Many people had dogs, and increasing numbers of people acquired puppies. Tragedy struck however in the form of the lethal virus Parvo, which quickly kills dogs who have not been vaccinated. One woman who was in recovery lost her white huskey mix to this disease and relapsed into heroin. I developed a particular fondness for a one eyed pitbull named Job. She had lost an eye as a puppy to an older male dog and had since been adopted by one of the couples. She was the only dog I met who liked to sit in your lap, despite her size and weight it felt wonderful to have a sweet canine cuddle up to you especially when it was cold out.
Some people with mental illness also made their home in this camp. An amusing term for them was a "wingnut". One man wore a pink jacket and a pink grandma type hat and danced around to a battery powered stereo. I enjoyed a particular moment when he performed his jig in front of a group of policemen, the expression on some of their faces was priceless. Another woman who called herself "Mama" was a frequent presence in the 420 hotel, known to be offering absurd trades in an endless pursuit of substances. She pitched her tent for a few days right next to the hotel and her croaks and yells infiltrated the area.
