Complications of scumfuck squatting

This is a real quick rundown of some of the things that get people out of sorts in a squat. Prevention was covered in the chapter on community self-defense against hunger and infections of inequality. You did your prevention for a while, right? Then you got sloppy. Now everybody's itchy. Fuck. Okay, here we go.

Lice and scabies

Get somebody who knows how to do a lice or scabies check to check out everybody in your squat. These bugs like to hide in the skin where the clothes cinch down: waist, ankles, wrists, between the shoulder blades, etc. Run everybody's bedding, packs, and clothes through a clothesdrier and roast the fuckers. Rip out your carpets and throw them out. Throw out your couches and mattresses too. Don't act like it's cool to have scabies or like it's shameful. Scabies hitch rides on people with too much pride or shame, because those people avoid treatment. It's just some shit everybody has to deal with.

Use Permetherin cream. It is a pesticide. The difference between the over the counter stuff and the prescription stuff is just the strength of the preparation (how much Permetherin is in the cream). Yeah, I know, you want to use tea tree oil instead because it's "natural." But it doesn't work. Permetherin does. Follow the directions if you don't want to be a total asshole and make all your roommates go through it all again.

Trench foot

The skin of your feet ache, not the muscles. Maybe just your toes ache. Maybe they ache and stink. Maybe they ache and stink and the skin is turning white and falling off and you got yellow crust in between your toes. Maybe your toenails are turning black and there's maggots living in your zombie feet.

Cool. So...when was the last time you took your shoes off? What about your crusty socks? You're in a squat, not on the street, so you can do this. Dry your shoes out, get some new socks, change out your socks between the daytime and nighttime, wash your socks in the sink and tie them to your belt and let them hang down into your clothes so your body heat dries them out. Or hang them from a line in your room. Put foot powder in your shoes. Wash your feet with soap and water, every day, even if you don't wash any other part of your body.

If you have already gotten to the zombie foot stage, stay off your feet for a few days, keep them propped up, keep your shoes off, and wash them regularly. You can soak them in hot water with a shitload of salt dumped in it, or with some packets of Domeboro (aluminum acetate) from the pharmacy dumped in it. Trench foot isn't about fungus, it's about swelling and decreased bloodflow that causes tissue to die. Fungus and bacteria love dying tissue. If it totally freaks you out or your feet are numb, go to a hospital.

Dumpster gut

Why did you think it was a good idea to eat that slimy ham you found in the trash? Now you're miserable, and puking all over the place. That sucks. Hope you have some good friends who can help you through it and tell you to just leave the slimy ham alone next time.

The first two things you need to think about if you're puking or shitting your brains out is your squatmates. Get a bucket or a basin, or hang around your nice flush toilets all day. Don't make a mess because you need to run up three flights of steps and bang on the bathroom door until your squatmate quits jerking off and lets you in.

The second thing you need to think about is hydration. Put a teaspoon of salt and 8 teaspoons of sugar, honey, maple syrup, or flour in a liter of water and drink up. When it is all gone, make more. This rehydration drink is absorbed through your stomach -- instead of your intestines where water is normally absorbed -- so even if you are puking, you get some water in you. If you avoid dehydration, you will get well way faster. The rehydration drink is even nicer if you add a little potassium in the form of a banana (just eat it, don't put it in your drink), a splash of 100% fruit juice, or some coconut water.

The third thing to think about is killing the critters. Your body is already on it, but you can help out. Put some black pepper in your rehydration drink. It settles the stomach and kills germs.

Crotch rot and yeasties

Want to make a squatter real happy? Give the gift of clean underwear and clean socks. We already talked about socks. Let's assume you wear underwear, and that you have been wearing them day and night for over a week straight. Now you have some nasty chafing, smells, or itchiness coming from your crotch, and you wonder why. This should be pretty straightforward. Clean underwear, clean crotch, baby powder: there are your basics.

What about yeast infections? A couple quick tricks for re-establishing healthy flora in the vagina:

  • Cut out sugar, bread, bagels, pizza, soft drinks, french fries, potato chips, desserts, and coffee for a while. Stop feeding the yeasties and they will starve

  • Run some thread through a garlic clove and insert it like a tampon with the thread hanging out. Change your garlic out twice a day. This kills off yeast

  • Put some plain, unflavored yogurt on a tampon or something and stick it up there once or twice a day. This encourages good flora that crowd out yeast

  • Change your underwear, drink lots of water, laugh a lot, and don't you dare douche

Coughs, sniffles, and fevers

Ask yourself and your squatmates where the sniffles or cough came from. Does it seem like it is spreading from person to person, or does it seem like multiple reactions to a common allergen like mold, cigarette smoke, or cats? Sometimes it is both: allergies weaken the respiratory tract and bacteria overpopulate, bringing on bronchitis. If allergies are the problem, deal with the allergen. Maybe people can smoke in the back yard, for example.

No matter what kind of respiratory infection you got going on, drink lots of water, get enough sleep, and feel your feelings. Remember that respiratory infections are community infections. If you are sick and you get somebody else sick, a virus could mutate in them and then reinfect you with a second strain. If you have a cold, you're at greater risk for catching another bug and getting bronchitis. So whether you are sick or not, wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, and be careful who you make out with, who you share food or utensils with, and who you sleep next to.

A few more ideas:

  • Wasabi or horseradish can rapidly clear out congested sinuses when eaten

  • Good nutrition and spicy food can help prevent respiratory infection and relieve symptoms

  • Frequent gargling with salt water can soothe an inflamed throat, as can frequent gargling with cayenne powder or tincture in water

  • Snorting salt water can clear out a stuffy nose

  • When you actually need antibiotics, take them exactly as directed. Finish your whole course. If you hate antibiotics, take them anyway, just take some probiotics like plain yogurt along with your pills

STIs

Use protection. Condoms, dental dams, gloves. Talk about protection when things get hot. Maybe discuss what you want to do to each other and what each of you considers safe sex. Get some good lube. Enjoy yourself.

If you think you might have an STI (sexually transmitted infection), contact one of these resources as soon as possible:

  • Callen Lourde Community Health Center (by appointment): 212 271-7200 (356 W 18th St btw 8th & 9th Ave in Chelsea, near A,C,E,L,1,2 trains) -- affordable health services to GLBT community, including lesbian women's health services, transgender health services, dentistry, sexual health clinic with STI screening and prophylaxis

  • Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger Center (M-T 8a-4:30p, W-F 8a-6:30p, Sat 7:30a-4p): 212 965-7000 (26 Bleecker St btw Lafayette St & Bowery in NoHo near 4,6,6X Bleeker St stop and B,D,F,M Broadway-Lafayette St stop) -- affordable STI/HIV testing and treatment; pregnancy testing and services; birth control, emergency contraception, abortion services; men's and women's health care

If you know you have an STI, don't lie. Tell your partners, and have safe, fun, informed sex.

Assholes (recognizing disorganizers and bullies)

To Occupy in my town,

For everyone who was inspired by the OWS movement to take action in their lives and communities, thank you for stepping up. We need each other. If this is the first time you've done activist work, there is something I want to share with you from my experience over the past 14 years that I've been politically engaged. This is what a disorganizer looks like: dominant, charismatic, violent, unnecessarily starting fights, encouraging others to arrestable actions without risking anything themselves, always doing favors, gathering a circle of submissive followers; someone who gathers power through intimidation, manipulation, violence, and lying. This is different from someone struggling with mental illness, and different from someone who is just an asshole. This is someone who deliberately uses hate speech to create division. Think about the barriers to us working together for common goals, and think about the people who are consistently starting drama that prevents those goals from being achieved. Think about the people who are driving others away. You have the opportunity to learn this now, and carry your understanding of this dynamic into all the political work you do with the rest of your life.

For everyone who was too scared to stand up for me the other day: it's ok to be scared. Without being scared, you have no opportunity to be brave. But what you do with that fear determines what kind of person you are, and what kind of activist you are. If you let anyone get away with attacking someone else just because they can, and using hate speech and explicit threats to force that person out, you end up with an encampment of people who have forced out many supporters, or who were too cowardly to stand up for others. In order for this movement to make any real changes, we need to protect each other, and we need to be brave enough and tough enough to stand up for each other no matter how scared we are, and we need to do everything we can to make our work inclusive of all kinds of people: otherwise we fail. No matter how scared you might be, when you stand up for someone who needs it, you create an ally, and a bigger movement. People don't forget what it feels like to know that someone had their back, even when it wasn't easy or safe or popular. For the people who did stand up for me, I won't forget you, and I hope we can keep building this struggle together.

In struggle,

"Sammy"