I had arrived at the Pacific coast, finally in 1985. I got swarmed by 6 drunks in Gastown by The Town Pump. Later, I worked at The Town Pump: a live music venue, where I heard 2 songs for the first time.

‘I Was flFucking Wendy The Night That Elvis Died’
AND
‘Your Old Lady Is My Old Lady Too. ‘

I would watch Janet Brown dance all night on that dance floor at The Town Pump, and when that was over, I worked the midnight shift cooking at Hamburger Mary’s. An establishment that mainly catered to children of the night, trannies, and what would become known as the LGBTQ community.
I would sleep at the cockroach infested drug/welfare Balmoral hotel where I slept during the day in preparation for my afternoon shift at the town pump. 16 hours a day, I worked for 3 months to get out of the West Coast madness. I put food and water on one side of the room away from the bed and pronounced in a drunken monologue while drawing an imaginary line, ” Cross this line, and I will kill you… Don’t and we can make this work.”
In the 3 months, I didn’t kill a cockroach.
I watched a man feed a pigeon on Christmas Eve, and when he got close enough to catch it, he broke its neck and walked away with it.
I saw a hooker walking down mainstreet in a bikini on New Year’s Eve. I saw addiction and madness at a level I never imagined.I heard Vancouver’s east end described as hell on earth… however, in hindsight, that might be a little unfair.


Dennis Mantin