DETAINED

Summer in New York City was as hot as ever with the humidity as oppresive as it is in any South American jungle or Congo on this late august night drew closer to midnight. Joel and Finbar found themselves together in a cramped, overcrowded holding cell in Manhattan's 6th prcienct. Both men in their mid 20's were brought up in as different parts of NY as were their beliefs and what they perceived as values being at odds with each other. They met under very rude circumstances to say the least, both protesting at a political convention however protesting contrasting points of view. Having initially met in the crowd of 3,000 people, Finbar took umbrage with a placard Joel was carrying that equated the current U.S. President with terrorism. Fin tried to tear the sign from Joel's hands but Joel fought back and they began to struggle. The strength that the two fought with was summoned from physical power and power that seemed to be coming from some other source invisible to the naked eye of the apathetic average passerbyer.The police showed up just as theeir arms were growing tired from swinging at each other, voices hoarse from yelling and cursing.Joel looked worse for wear sporting a fat lip but Fin's ribs ached painfully everytime he took a breath. They continued cursing each other as they were being hauled into the paddy wagon, but by the time their fingerprints were taken and they were thrown into a cell they had calmed greatly, the effects of being criminally processed into NYC'S police computers having taken a toll on the mood.
As Fin looked over at his sparring partner he was just what epitomized what he could not stomach about liberals. Dressed in faded blue jeans and a t-shirt that bore a unflattering picture of the President and a backpack adorned with peace sign buttons and various other faux-hippie accesories easily found in any Greenwich Village head shop, Joel looked every bit like those who spat upon Fin's father and called him a killer when he returned to his suburban Long Island town after serving his tour of duty in Vietnam. Fin's dad,Francis, lost many friends in those jungles and rice paddies and the sight of protesters filled him with rage and fury. It caused him to devolp a great disdain for all things and people that bore the label of democrat.Fin grew up believing that JFK was just a overrated womanizer, Reagan was cannonized, and he actually wept on election night 1992 when Governor Clinton had been elected sweeping away the last remnant of the beloved republican gipper.
In stark contrast to Fin was Joel staring blankly at the gray ceiling of the cell. This was hardly the first time he had been inside a jail for protesting for he was following in what was becoming the family business of dissension. Having spent his entire life on the isle of Manhattan,the purchase of which would fill him with anger, he had been raised by a jewish father and agnostic mother both had been self-proclaimed flower childern of the 70's. Joel had grown up feeding his mind on the readings of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Karl Marx and Hunter S Thompson.