Charlie Manson

I went down the hill to see Bill the smog guru. He owed me money. Bill’s an old hippy. He likes Country Joe and the Fish.

We were sitting in the sun talking about the Twilight Zone. Bill seems to think that all the episodes are inspired by the Ten Commandments. I wouldn’t doubt it. Bill likes to talk about old times. Charlie Manson’s name came up.

            “I want fifteen minutes with that guy,” Bill said.

            “Why?”

            “Because he ruined it for everybody.”

            “You mean he gave you hippies a bad name?”

            “Yeah, I want to strangle him. “

            “You hippies ruined it for the suit,” I said.

            “And the hair cut too. You know after the Tate-La Bianca murders, all you could see was Sears vans everywhere.”

            “Sears vans? Why Sears vans?

            “Because it was so hot outside and nobody wanted to keep their windows open, so they bought air-conditioners to keep cool. Sears made a fortune on those murders.”