Normally, I don't mind where I'm at in my life. I'm forty, no kids, low-paying job, live in a trailer court, etc (and trust me there's more to the etc, then I've already mentioned), but today I had a hard time.
One of my best friends from high school was a big dope head (no offense to the dope heads out there). He showed up nearly every day to our first period art class smelling of weed and was generally so whacked out of his mind that he got horrible grades.
He finally graduated - barely - and made it to college. He was still a bit of a flake, but he graduated and since he was very good with cars, even while high, he is now working for Ford MoCo, desiging their truck chassis.
I smoked pot three times in my life. All three times, I did it because of peer pressure and for some reason I didn't get high and it didn't seem like anything that was worth spending money on. I'm not even sure why anymore, but for some reason I dropped out of college and ended up in the Army. In the Army, I started studying with the jw and became a conscientious objector which caused me to forfeit the thirty thousand dollars of college money I'd earned.
So, I'm working at my $7.50 job, which today included busing tables, and in walks my high school friend. I wanted to choke that look of pity off of his face, but I'm sure he sincerely felt bad and we did have a good talk. He's still married to Lisa (my wife left me when I started studying with the jw) and they're happy in MI. Now, I'm sure that he's leaving out some negative parts of the story, but I felt about three inches tall for a good hour.
Later on, I saw a couple that used to bring their dobermans into the Alzheimer's facility that I used to work before I quit due to a romantic situation going sour. I saw my cousin, the son of my God Parents, who didn't seem to recognize me (I hope) and three or four other people that I've known at other times in my life. I felt like I was some kid's failed science project.
I take responsibility for my own poor decisions and I sure can't blame the jw for ALL of my issues, but I want back what they robbed. I want it back and I don't know how to go about it. I'm pissed at those b*stards for fooling me. I know, I was the sucker, but I don't go around suckering people. Why can they do that? How is this legal? I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but it really seems that these hypocrites, these governing body leeches ought to be put out of business.
Does anyone remember that guy who used to sell things on late night infomercials who kept selling junk? They finally made him stop and so he wrote a book that he's making a killing on? What's with these guys? Maybe I'm missing something, but where is our protection against these blatantly anti-social pud-heads?
OK, that's it. I just had to get that off my chest.