I never really had a misspent youth cos I never actually had much inclination to misspend it (nor indeed much money with which I could do so), and part of me now regrets that. So when I spotted this image on Tumblr, I had to compare and contrast myself…

* Greasy, stringy hair… yeah, somewhat guilty. Dyed and backcombed, though. Too lazy to look after my hair properly, so also too lazy to do anything like that.
* Smokes, drinks… the latter, once upon a time (stroke more or less ended that). I only ever smoked once or twice. As I may have said before, not taking up smoking was the only good thing I’ve ever done for my health.
* Slouches… yeah, I’m exceedingly bad for that.
* Black eye…. no? I never got into physical fights or anything like that.
* Uses bad language… well, I speak English, and frankly that’s as bad as language gets.
* Too much makeup… no. Even in my peak goth era I was too lazy for anything of that sort.
* Always chews gum… never.
* Rumpled clothing… um, yeah, guilty, pretty much. Leaving the house tends to be an adventure in finding the t-shirt with the fewest creases. None of the female fashion choices really apply here, which may or may not be a disappointment.
* Carries a switchblade… no. Probably a good thing.
* Dirty jeans… yeah, more guilty than I like to admit. I don’t do untidy cuffs, though, cos I don’t do cuffs of any sort. Haven’t needed to roll up my jeans since I was little.
* Old shoes… yeah, definitely guilty. The current pair have been with me for what, 12 or 13 years? They are past their best, much like their owner.
* Stealing… I actually have shoplifted, so… yeah. Never stole a car, though. Never learned to drive one of the fucking things, so it would’ve been a bit silly.
So I think I would’ve been a somewhat substandard delinquent in 1965 when Al M. Bradley drew this thing. Can’t find anything about the latter, so I don’t know who he produced it for nor why… the only other source I can find for it refers vaguely to an unnamed “delinquency scare book”, so if nothing else I’m guessing that he meant this seriouslu. Don’t know about you, but Al’s “common delinquent” seems relatively mild; he/she might pack a knife, but their chief offence seems to be dressing badly and engaging in theft, they’re not doing drugs or killing people or anything like that. Maybe they had to graduate to the next level of delinquency to do that. Maybe he needed boots like hers.









I’ve always had a particular animus towards Nickelback cos Chud Kroeger was born on the exact same day as me (albeit in Canada, so I think in real terms I’m probably nearly a day older than him). Don’t know what Wax Trax did to deserve this, but it was clearly the right thing, and I need to do it myself…
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