The following companion to "The Gospel for Generation X," in this issue, is a departure from normal LEADERSHIP fare. The narrative (originally published in Utne Reader, an "alternative" magazine) describes the extreme lifestyle of a small segment of the buster generation. Though a little raw in places, the account captures the psychological and spiritual despair of grunge culture.

I came face to face with the essence of grunge culture last summer, when I was out in Seattle interviewing street punks.

I was hanging out with a runaway anarchist named Jackie and his street friend Anthony when we decided to go party with their friends from the band Suffocated. We took a shortcut to their house on the outskirts of the U district, tramping through the woods and under the bridge where the "trolls" (street kids) slept when they didn't have a squat to crash, then circling around the back of Safeway to scavenge for moldy sandwiches in the dumpster.

Suffocated's lead guitarist received us nonchalantly, ...