So I get off the highway, and since I didn't have 15 dollars for parking, I parked in a Holiday Inn parking lot, which was relatively quiet, thinking nothing of it.  No employees were outside checking the lot, and I don't have stickers on my car. Besides, I saw a few other folks parking there for the show, so my attitude was: "Fuck it dude." I never met up with my friend, but the kind folks sitting next to me during the show got me high and were just great company. They just kept handing me bowls of kind bud throughout the show, like I was part of their contingent. So cool. 

Anyway, after a good show (that had the worst, most anti-climatic encore ever, unfortunately), I was walking back to the Holiday Inn...  I'm looking for my car, which should have been right in front, and I'm not seeing it. It's gone. I'm freaking out thinking it was stolen and wondering what to do, as I have no money and no friends around. Then I notice a whole group of phans arguing with what looked like a Holiday Inn official, and I soon learned that the bastards called a towing company to come tow everyone's cars!! 

At the time, it never occurred to me that they would take down the plate numbers of the people staying there. Anyway, it's late, it's freezing out, and about 50 of us are out of luck. We're told to walk 2 miles downtown to the impound lot to pay 90 dollars cash and get our cars. I had about 15 cents, so I knew that was no option. So I start commiserating with a group of kids from Long Island whose car was also towed, but they had the money to get it out. 

We're walking to the lot through what looks like a ghost town, and we finally get to the place... it's some shack across the street from the lot. Tons of heads were there, all pissed off, some crying. The guy running the joint was a meathead jerk, and I think he realized that after several others and I argued with him saying, "dude we're sleeping on the street tonight if you don't give us our cars." I kept asking him to bill me, but he wanted cash. 

So it turns out that the kids I was sort of with were staying in Gardner, a nearby town, and they offered to give me a ride and let me crash and call my sister. And that's the point of this long story. These people didn't know me from a hole in the wall, but they still helped me out. And believe me, it would have been a cold, scary night if they hadn't. So I bid farewell to my car, and the five of us drove off to this girl's house, which was quite nice. I woke up my sister with a phone call (from their cell phone), and she drove out to Gardner to this girl's house (I was with 2 guys and 2 girls, who may have been girlfriends, I don't remember), which was in the middle of nowhere, and picks me up. 

I was so grateful to these people and was a little upset I couldn't get them high or something. What really sucked was driving back to Worcester the next day with my very upset father, missing an exam at school, and having to pay 90 dollars to get my car. I guess I was foolish to park there, but towing everyone's car was a dick move to be sure. I know some others weren't so lucky. Some people slept in gutters that night. And I'm sure this sort of thing goes on at all Centrum events. I can understand the hotel not wanting people parking there, and wanting to make some money while they are at it, but they know damn well what this does to people, and they could very well rope off the lot or keep someone outside before the show to wave people off. 

Anyway, the point is that even though the scene has had it share of problems over the years, there are still so many kind, considerate people out there. I want to thank those Long Island kids for helping me out. I owe you guys, and I wish I could thank you in person sometime, maybe at the next Worcester show. That night was surely a near catastrophe. Anyone who was there that night in Worcester (11/29/98) knows what I'm talking about.

 - James Hunter

Editor's Note: I truly believe that hospitality is one of the greatest virtues in existence.