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Sunday, August 13, 2006

The Boy, by the numbers

[This list is now obsolete. Please refer to the current list.]

To make this blog easier to write (and read), I’m considering using a series of codes to describe The Boy’s latest misadventure… something like this:
  • TB01: Left home (again)

  • TB02: Came home (again)

  • TB03: Said he’d be home, stayed out, hasn’t returned

  • TB04: Had a tantrum, broke something

  • TB05: Caught in a lie, insisting on his version of things

  • TB06: Talks about getting a job, no follow-through

  • TB07: Talks about getting a GED, no follow-through

  • TB08: His band has been signed (again)

  • TB09: Blames everyone else for his problems

You get the idea. I could just use a subject of, say, “TB04” and I wouldn’t have to type anything unless he threw multiple errors like Friday (TB04, TB05, TB06, TB07, TB09). He hasn’t been doing a very good job of managing his diabetes as of late (his A1C is 10, in the Very Bad range), and that doesn’t help — he goes completely off the rails when his glucose gets really high. And so we have one less phone than we did Thursday.

He now has less than two weeks left to clean up his act, before his court appearance. He now acknowledges drinking heavily and smoking various substances, shows no regret but says he quit drinking after a two-week binge (“I decided that was stupid”). His lip ring is gone, but the earrings are still installed and his hair won’t exactly impress a judge. He still has his head in an alternate universe, where looks don’t count for anything when going to court or job interviews. The hard part is that I agree with him partly — appearances shouldn’t make a difference — but as I’ve been telling him repeatedly, he has to deal with how things are instead of how they should be. The other minor detail is, as a high-school dropout, the facts beyond the appearance makes the job hunt difficult.

“I don’t want to work in a restaurant, or a gas station, or Kroger, or anything like that.” Unfortunately, without a diploma, that’s about all that’s open to him at this point. I think I got through to him on one point: he’s gone backwards in a big way this summer. He started out with a job, a working car, and a cell phone; now he has a non-working car, no job, and no phone. I didn’t even mention his A1C going up three points, but that’s as much a part of it as anything else.

1 comment:

  1. Hi FARfetched. You're right appearance shouldn't matter, but you're right again, that's not the real world.

    It's funny on the lying. I've got a relative who I think lies just to keep in practice. I've seen with most liars that when caught in a lie, they get angry. I've always thought it was just to divert attention away from them getting caught in a lie.

    So much easier just to tell the truth. Kind of slackerly in a way. :)

    Hope The Boy get his diabetes under control.

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