One of my neighbors has a criminal record, too. He also has a wife of many years and 3 good kids, two of them in their teens. His wife is an awesome woman who follows the golden rule and takes no shit from anyone. And at this point in life, she has a postgrad degree and he's one semester away from getting one.
He's lucky to be alive, because about six or seven years ago he got carjacked and was shot nine fucking times, but survived and eventually made a more or less complete recovery. I really like the dude because he has a lot of con wisdom about things like "community" and people looking out for each other.
He's not the only ex-con I know, by a long shot. Hell, the US has the highest incarceration rate of any developed nation in the world, and a lot of that incarceration is over victimless crimes like selling a dime bag to the wrong person. It could be argued that being an ex-con is a badge of honor. One of my long distance friends did eight years in Folsom but is now a published poet, sober thirty-five years, and an honorable, ethical man I'm more than happy to run with.
I understand your aversion to Herman, though. As far as I can see he's an unrepentant asshole with no redeeming social value, who has a complete unwillingness to learn anything new and a complete lack of respect for anyone else. Oh, and a weakness for firewater and a fondness for Posting While Drunk. I don't wish him dead, but I wouldn't piss in his mouth if his guts were on fire.
And Joe...this will make his THIRD trophy thread. Wassup with that? Seems like you've given him a furnished apartment in yer head, and a long term lease, all for free.
