A Different Perspective

"Cause in nothing there's something I feel and my heart takes it straight. Or it'll break down again. In your lips I sense a danger, you've got the eyes of a stranger" The Payolas from "Eyes of a Stranger"

When I entered his room, much like I do every other morning, I had a little paper cup filled with the medications that make him easier to be around. It's not that without them he is a monster or anything, though I'm sure he would love it if people thought he was. He's really just a very scared, very lonely guy who took the long road to maturity. I think you all know a little bit about him, but you're never heard my version.

Mike, or inmate 4815162342, checked into the Asylum in March, though it does feel like he as been here a lot longer. He came here because he had moved away from all of the friends that he loved so much, the reasons for the move were varied. He'll tell you that it was all a bout of bad timing and cheap housing, but it was also about getting away from his addictive behaviors that had him switching one vice for another. See, Mike, the guy loves his rum. He let it control and nearly destroy his life during his 20's. It was just a decade of meaningless nights with mostly unworthy women. That Captain was the only thing he really cared about after what I'm gonna go ahead and call "The Michelle Situation". Once that was over he stopped hoping, nearly stopped dreaming, but he never stopped drinking. All that intoxication, all those blackouts, well it stunned his ability to grow up. He was still a 19 year old child after 10 years of boozing, and at 29 it came crashing down on him, literally.

His second DUI occurred on July 1st, 1999. His blood alcohol level at the time was .24, that pretty God damned drunk. He blacked out behind the wheel of his Celica, and without the guard rail would have plummeted to his death on the highway 22 to 57 freeway interchange. It scared him, it woke him up, sort of.

He stayed sober as a saint for nearly 1 year, but then he found something better than rum, marijuana, which had been absent from his life since high school. This lifestyle claimed him for another seven years, before he started getting his shit together. He stayed off the pot for over a year before taking a hit at the Embassy. That started yet another bender that would take him up to his move. He needed to escape the place he loved. Needed to find out if he could really be a man. That's why he is so dedicated to HellJob, which believe me, is killing him. But he has to prove to himself that he can make the most of a bad situation. Make it without his safety net of friends around him. He's really trying. Yeah, he's surviving, but he's miserable a lot of the time too.

So, I heard that he started asking you all for advice. Sounds like he's about ready to really take a step in a new direction and I hope he does. I know he says some pretty mean things about my sex life and how I look, but I think he just sees me as a porno type girl. Fantasy that you would never catch meeting his SuperMom. Well, I'm glad I got to yell you a little about him. Hope to talk to you again.

The Nurse

Do you have any questions for the nurse?

Dixie Cup of Love: The Nurse is only allowed to give them to the inmates.