I would like to add a comment relating to the changes seen in the past several decades regarding youth subculture. My nephew Mike has taught at Northern Arizona University as well as acted as College Entrance Advisor for 30 years. He tells us during those years he has witnessed the growing emergence among young adults of the "goth" subculture. These folks are commonly misguided in life, to be sure, but many come from very well-to-do families, as well as many living day to day on next to nothing. They seem to have a nearly morbid preoccupation with death, the occult, Satanic Worship, and the like. They tend to dress entirely in black, to the extreme, using black lipstick and heavy outlining of the features, "ghoulish", as Mike describes it. Heavy body and face piercing and ornamentation is part of their "thing". Mike came from a background nearly identical to mine, basically the "work ethic" culture. He is a most accommodating person, perhaps too much so, and has always treated the "unusual" folks he deals with giving the same respect as anyone else. Once, a big, burly youth entered his Office, for Guidance Counseling, heavily garnished as Mike put it, suddenly pulled a knife and held it out towards Mike's face and throat. Mike, fortunately, was able to talk him down. He did not pursue the situation as another might have, as the youth, calming down, apologized and said he had run out of his "medicine". We are living through uniquely changing times, IMO. If interested, this article details the goth subculture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goth_subculture#Self-harm_study
When I was a paramedic, we got a call to a brushy area where no one lived. Someone had called it in, saying that someone was bleeding badly, with no other information. When we arrived, we found a naked thirteen year-old boy who had cut his foot pretty badly on something. Although he had blood on his chest, it seemed to have come from his foot. He said he had stepped on something and seeing as he had been in the middle of the brush in the dark with no clothes on, it wasn't unlikely that he would have hurt himself. I don't know if you've ever been in southeast Texas, but the vegetation fights back there. Everything seems to have thorns or things that will stick you. It all seemed kind of odd that a thirteen year-old would be naked a long way from the nearest house, and his story wasn't making a lot of sense, so we called the police. I think they had already been called anyhow, but we had arrived first. We had other paramedics on the scene so a couple of other guys took the patient into the hospital, and I took a walk in the brush with the police to see if we could figure out what was going on. We found a mostly burned out fire, a bunch of black and white candles, peppers, and corn liquor bottles. I had been to the scene of Santeria rituals before, and these are pretty standard, at least the Hispanic version of it. The best we could figure out was that they were doing some Santeria ritual in the brush and the kid was hurt accidentally, or as a part of the ritual. Everyone got scared and left, but someone at least called it in so that we could get him to the hospital. Like Satanism, most of the kids who practice Santeria aren't really well versed in the religion, and are pretty much making things up as they go along. I was also the health inspector and building inspector for the town, so I went to one of the vacant houses in town with one of the city cops. Taxes hadn't been paid in years, and no one was supposed to have been living there, yet someone had called in saying there were lights on in there. The front door was locked and the yard hadn't been mowed in years, but there was a path leading to the back door, which was unlocked. The flooring of the house was an alternating pattern of white and black tiles, well done but kind of dizzying. Although the power company had turned the electricity off years before, someone (not the power company) had turned it back on. There was no furniture but there were boxes of plain red, white and black candles, as well as some in glass containers depicting the saints which are used to represent the gods of Santeria. There were also peppers, cigars, and empty corn liquor bottles. There was no furniture. On the walls of the living room were intricately painted dragons, which are not a typical thing in Santeria, and there was a pentagram on the floor. Whatever was going on in that house was a mixture of Santeria and Satanism, it seems. No one was ever found there but a grandson of the woman who owned the house was known to have been into some weird stuff, so it was assumed that it was him. He was an adult by that time, but a young adult.
Thank you for sharing that. Ever since I read that you had been a paramedic, I've wondered what-all in all those innumerable calls for help to which you and your unit responded, stand out most in your mind. This must have been one. In my way of thinking, the paramedic is exposed to, and sees firsthand, a good bit worse scenario than the ER doctors and nurses who have been conditioned for what to expect. Have you ever been so overcome by the scene resulting from a call, that you have tried to blot it from your mind?