Wow. I officially know more about the guy that is laying tile in the kitchen than I need to.
His name is Robert, he's 27 and he likes his job but wishes he had gone to college to pursue what he really likes: Writing. An odd choice I thought, given his character and demeanor. He looks and acts like your typical youth raised in a harsh ghetto full of gangs and drugs. Not that that's a bad thing, he's a really nice guy, just not what I picture as the typical "writer" type. Why didn't he go to college you ask?
It all started when he was 10. His uncle was a loan shark and he'd often take him along on collection raids when someone wouldn't pay up. Robert's uncle would kick down the door and then he'd tell Robert what things to get. If Robert saw any video game systems he asked to have those and his uncle would let him take them. Of course Robert didn't know what he was doing, he just thought it was the way things were until he turned 15.
Fast forward to 14. Given his early years of stealing and not knowing it, he'd often take his parent's car out for joyrides. He didn't get caught until the middle of his fifteenth year. Whereupon he didn't go to jail (the cop let him off easily even though the car was labeled as "stolen") but his parents got a call, informing them that he stole the car. This was the moment of his life that pretty much broke his chances of going to college. At fifteen years of age he was kicked out of his house.
At this point he COULD have gone to college if he wanted (after highschool of course). He had the money and a steady job that gave him more than enough money to pay for school. He lived out of his car for 2 years, partying, drinking, doing drugs and just overall getting in trouble. Two years he did this and then he moved back in with his parents. At seventeen his dad wanted to send him to a private christian school, but they wouldn't take him. In fact, no school would take him except adult night schools. Around this time he got a job at the Four Seasons.
That's why he recognized my sister's picture. He had worked with her for a few years! Kind of a neat coincidence. Anyway, he worked there for about 4 years and got caught up in it and avoided school. He saw it as too much of a hassle. But then he got in trouble with the law again (unspecified this time) and he was fired from his job.
About a month later is when he got the job at Home Depot starting off as an apprentice and working his way up to his current position today! He's a really nice guy but you can tell he'd rather talk than work. He likes his job but doesn't love it and obviously has some regrets about his past. But he says it's all about learning and living. Cliche, I know, but true. It was actually pretty inspiring to hear him talk. A rather weird source of inspiration, but no one said inspiration had to come from a "good" source.
There's a ton of stuff he told me I didnt post about. Like his two uncles living in venezuela doing "God's work." "God's Work" means living in a small shack and not getting paid a dime for helping the people in the ghetto. They live off of the kindness of the poor people around them to give them food. Or his born again christian brother who claims to have witnessed a woman posessed by a demon... Yeah. There is a ton more stuff but I think I'll just end it here.
His name is Robert, he's 27 and he likes his job but wishes he had gone to college to pursue what he really likes: Writing. An odd choice I thought, given his character and demeanor. He looks and acts like your typical youth raised in a harsh ghetto full of gangs and drugs. Not that that's a bad thing, he's a really nice guy, just not what I picture as the typical "writer" type. Why didn't he go to college you ask?
It all started when he was 10. His uncle was a loan shark and he'd often take him along on collection raids when someone wouldn't pay up. Robert's uncle would kick down the door and then he'd tell Robert what things to get. If Robert saw any video game systems he asked to have those and his uncle would let him take them. Of course Robert didn't know what he was doing, he just thought it was the way things were until he turned 15.
Fast forward to 14. Given his early years of stealing and not knowing it, he'd often take his parent's car out for joyrides. He didn't get caught until the middle of his fifteenth year. Whereupon he didn't go to jail (the cop let him off easily even though the car was labeled as "stolen") but his parents got a call, informing them that he stole the car. This was the moment of his life that pretty much broke his chances of going to college. At fifteen years of age he was kicked out of his house.
At this point he COULD have gone to college if he wanted (after highschool of course). He had the money and a steady job that gave him more than enough money to pay for school. He lived out of his car for 2 years, partying, drinking, doing drugs and just overall getting in trouble. Two years he did this and then he moved back in with his parents. At seventeen his dad wanted to send him to a private christian school, but they wouldn't take him. In fact, no school would take him except adult night schools. Around this time he got a job at the Four Seasons.
That's why he recognized my sister's picture. He had worked with her for a few years! Kind of a neat coincidence. Anyway, he worked there for about 4 years and got caught up in it and avoided school. He saw it as too much of a hassle. But then he got in trouble with the law again (unspecified this time) and he was fired from his job.
About a month later is when he got the job at Home Depot starting off as an apprentice and working his way up to his current position today! He's a really nice guy but you can tell he'd rather talk than work. He likes his job but doesn't love it and obviously has some regrets about his past. But he says it's all about learning and living. Cliche, I know, but true. It was actually pretty inspiring to hear him talk. A rather weird source of inspiration, but no one said inspiration had to come from a "good" source.
There's a ton of stuff he told me I didnt post about. Like his two uncles living in venezuela doing "God's work." "God's Work" means living in a small shack and not getting paid a dime for helping the people in the ghetto. They live off of the kindness of the poor people around them to give them food. Or his born again christian brother who claims to have witnessed a woman posessed by a demon... Yeah. There is a ton more stuff but I think I'll just end it here.
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