Friday, November 11, 2005

Before You Were Born

"I've been locked up too long. I can't wait to get out of here," a young Hmong guy complained. "It's been 11 months since I was out."

"When were you born?" I asked him.

"1985," he said.

"You know, I was doing time before you were born," I had to say it, "and I'm still doing time."

I went on to encourage him to go legit after he gets released. However, I know some youngsters have to learn the hard way.