sayings in the seed and what they really meant.

[GregFL]

The seed developed and assigned its own meaning to phrases. I can't remember them all, but Lets see if we can list them.

1) Getting into your head.

This meant stop thinking. If anyone was sitting silently not paying attention, or thinking to themselves or staring off, they were "getting into their head" and this must stop immediately.


2) get your head out of the gutter.
this meant stop having sexual thoughts.

3) I love you.
Used as a simple greeting by all seedlings and in group to salute those done speaking.

4) "You know" and "its like" and "I don't know".


These had no special meaning but were before during and after almost every sentence, at least in the early 70s. Any  linquist forced to listen to this butchery of the english language  would have gotten nauseus.

example;

  "I don't know, you know its like I feel strong, you know. Its like everything has changed.  I don't know, its like ive gotten so strong these past three months. Its like I am a new person, You know. Before I came here, I dont know, it was like I was lost. Now I have so many friends, and its like my olddruggie friends, I don't know, they don't understand and you know, its funny because Its like  am stronger and better than they will ever be.  I don't know, Its like I feel so happy, you know. Since I came to The Seed its like a whole new world, you know. I don't know, but  love you guys.


anyone else remember the phraseology?

[cleveland]

Perfect, Greg.

How about, "I can relate to what (insert name) said..."

This is a way to hook on to someone's statement, indicating approval OR as a way to subtly rework something said the needed to be improved upon, for instance, a Newcomer says "I'm starting to like it here, I mean people are great, but I'm still kind of lonely, I guess" (whoops). So here's the response - "I can relate to what John said. When I was a newcomer, I was lonely too, an first. And then I realized I had the best friends in the world right here, forever."

"Shit-eating grin" - indicates mindless happiness and the first indication that the "Three Day Miracle" is beginning. "I wasn't really happy at first, and then one day, I'm sitting there on the front row with this big shit-eating grin."

"That's some fucked-up shit." Self-explanitory, but usually used to indicate strong disapproval of something a newcomer did because they haven't gotten with the program yet or an oldcomer who is off track.


"The person I used to be..." was ALWAYS bad. If you screwed up and said, "You know, some of my friends were kinda OK... (long look from staff member leading the Rap) " - I mean, they were fucked up druggies and all...but" (the speaker looks around wildly, realizing that they are surrounded by disapproving stares) "well, I guess I mean I THOUGHT some of them were OK until I realized how fucked up it was that we were hanging out and stuff. OK, I love you" (as in, oh shit, gotta go - sit down fast and look at hands, waiting for the staff member or someone else to "relate" to you.

OK there's a lot more. But what's interesting to me is how much of it was non-verbal - a disapproving look, a raised eyebrow, a pregnant pause in a conversation. Like real life, only more so, cause everything was "so crucial" (another phrase which meant - too much, fucked up, don't worry about it)

And don't be such a "banana head" (nervous, socially inept loser, usually a newcomer whose moved on a bit and now wants to be accepted).

Oh, and don't be "into acceptance," like, I was so into acceptance with my old druggie friends (and now I'm just dying to have every Seed person totally 100% like me, but that's OK 'cause I'm still kind of a bananahead, I guess).

Oh shit, gotta go. Love ya!


_________________
Wally Gator[ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2004-10-21 12:54 ]

[Anonymous]

ha!  That reminds me of a story I was telling someone on the phone yesterday.

In the seed you were never allowed to have any good experience before you came in. The world was divided in Before Seed = Bad, after Seed = Good. There was no deviation from this.

One Day John U. Came into group to start a rap and abrubtly said "who remembers some good times from the streets" Very wisely Virtually no one raised their hand except poor some unexpecting schmell from the second row who was immediately called on and started relaying a story about having a good time at a rock concert with some buddies.  As he was telling this he slowly spun around to tell the group behind him only to witness to his horror virtually ever hand flailing wildy. The look on his face was classic deer in the headlights and he was savagely ripped apart for daring to imply he may have had a good time before the seed.


Okay end of story more terminology.

Chicks=girls
guys-boys

Relate-talk in an honest fashion
relate to-share experience
aware-a biproduct of being "totally honest" which allows you (supposedly) to read other people with extreme clarity. A gift and special byproduct of being a seedling...awareness.

[cleveland]

"The gift of awareness" (I think kind of like being "clear" in dianetics)

and

"The gift of INSTANT awareness" (for Art alone, akin to mind-reading).[ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2004-10-21 13:21 ]

Oooh, and another one - Camelot. We were supposed to be in Camelot!

"A law was made a distant moon ago here,
July and August cannot be too hot,
And there's a legal limit to the snow here, in Camelot!"

Nobody ever said that but we sung it and it was clear who King Arthur was![ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2004-10-21 13:27 ][ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2004-10-21 13:27 ]

[GregFL]

I guess Art's gift of "instant awareness" is what lead Robert Chun to say to a reporter last year "he even knows what I am thinking right now" while they were driving in a car and he was talking of Art.


My gosh, anyone still think this wasn't a cult?




How about

"when I was on the streets"

Really just meant before the seed as very very few seed kids were ever on the streets in the true sense of the saying.

"superseeding"

anyone trying to hard or over-enthusiastic.

[Scout]

Ok, does anyone remember in the later years when we used to say "On my honor as a Seed Kid"?  We usually used this saying when playing a practical joke on someone and if that person said "on your honor as a seed kid?"  you had to absolutely answer honestly because your honor as a seed kid was at stake.  It meant more than saying "on my mother's grave".  I remember when Art first heard us say it, he was very flattered.  This was one cliche that he did not make up, we did.

It's a little embarrassing, isn't it??

[Anonymous]

Growing up I remember hearing "shit eatin grin" always meant kinda guilty like "the cat that swallowed the canary" but in a cleverish way not to denote a bad deed.  It also was used when one was trying to appear innocent but was caught and you would just kinda smile because you really new you wern't so innocent.  :idea:

[Anonymous]

Scout what city do you live in ? How old are you I'm trying to figure out if I know you? ::

[GregFL]

playing games.

as in..."stop playing games" or "you are very gamey".

Crap, this one could be used just to discredit just about anything anyone said. It really had kind of a floating definition.

[Antigen]

On 2004-10-21 13:03:00, Anonymous wrote:

aware-a biproduct of being "totally honest" which allows you (supposedly) to read other people with extreme clarity. A gift and special byproduct of being a seedling...awareness

I came so close so many times to what would surely have been a tragic outburst of laughter over use of the word 'awareness' under the Program definition.

"WHERE'S YOUR AWARENESS, UP YOUR ASS!?!?!?!?" Why no, actually, I wasn't thinking at all about the inside of my colon. Were you?

The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.
--William Safire

_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Seed sibling `71 - `80
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
   10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

[cleveland]

How about "crabs in a bucket" story? So, one crab is trying to escape the bucket, and the other crabs pull 'em in.  A metaphor for our 'old druggie friends,' of course, but also for the Seed itself, I think. It was a hard place to leave.

What about, "Every Day We're Straight, It's Like Christmas!" usually shouted at the top of your lungs in front of the group on the day of your anniversary. I hated this one, because my anniversary always made me feel sad, and it didn't feel at all like Christmas - except maybe for singing all kinds of Holiday songs, which I enjoyed. We even wore Seed t-shirts and sang to shoppers on Las Olas Boulevard one year!

_________________
Wally Gator[ This Message was edited by: cleveland on 2004-10-22 10:08 ]

[GregFL]

Antigen reminded me of

"get your head out of your ass"  


which really meant fall in line with what was expected of you, behave like a seedling.

[GregFL]

"being gratefull"

Anytime you questioned anything at all, behaved like perhaps there was a world outside the seed, you weren't "being Gratefull".

[cleveland]

"Don't get your head out of whack" - don't think you're too smart, funny or whatever. Not to be egotistical. But it also meant not thinking you were wmarter than the Seed collectively, staff members or especially, Art.

[GregFL]

Think, Think, think.


Really meant Dont think independently or don't think outside the box. process every thought and emotion thru the filter of the program or the expectations of a seedling.











[ This Message was edited by: GregFL on 2004-10-23 21:00 ]