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A couple of guys I knew back in the day. 1985 or so, I was working at a small bank as what they call an IT manager these days. Being 1985 things having to do with computers in business was called data processing, which is what it is and was. Computers process data in various ways as directed by programmers, guys who write code as they say, or developers as they're called these days. The small bank had one of the more progressive managements and had its own computer - data center these days - and I was hired - due to my experience - as the manager. I only had two or three guys working for me at any time, usually some or all were part time. I was twenty-five or so, and we hired two younger guys of around twenty. Just out of school, didn't go to college, pretty smart and easily capable of doing the work or being trained to. I'll call them Bill and George. George was a quiet type, had a regular girlfriend and didn't have a wild life. He did use drugs, and sold drugs. A lot of guys sold some pot now and then in my day, get a pound for a buck and a quarter and sell most at fifteen dollars a lid, about two-forty if you sold all sixteen lids, a hundred fifteen was a pretty nice profit in those days. Usually you'd keep one or two lids for personal use so call it eighty-five to a hundred. Gas was a buck-twenty a gallon or so, so a little easy money was nice. If you wanted to take the risk - you could (where we lived) go to the pen for several years for dealing. The main risk was getting caught with a pound (intent to deliver or distribute) or being narced on. Cops would catch one of your customers with a small bag and squeeze him for the dealer's name, and they could put you away for selling. The 1980s brought coke, and while pot could still get you in some serious trouble dealing coke was another matter entirely. You would definitely go up if you were caught selling coke. Like George Bill was decently smart, but nowhere near quiet. He would tell you how smart he was (he wasn't that smart, just above average) and would talk about his sexual conquests on an almost daily basis. How many actually happened I have no idea, he lied a lot but was aggressive and there were plenty of loose women around, all you had to to was ask, and weed and liquor guaranteed a steady supply of sex. So constantly bragging about it suggested insecurity. Bill was dealing too, and frequently told me that George was going to end up in prison, saying he was careless and was going to get nailed before long. Well... I was planning to end my employment there, but it would be a year or so before I found the job I wanted. Before that happened I got a call one night, after midnight, and was told by an acquaintence that George would not be at work the next day. He had been arrested for selling cocaine. A state police undercover agent had made two buys from him and he was definitely going down. As in five years minimum, and likely more. Well, that was that and George said "I told you, I tried to tell George but he didn't listen" and so on. Of course George's employment was terminated forthwith, before long I saw him and he had gotten a job at a local lumber company. Life went on and Bill was my only assistand for a while, and we hired someone else or moved someone from another department, I forget. Before I left the bank and moved away George's case went to trial. Talk about luck - he was looking at years in prison but the investigator that made the buys died in a helicopter crash, while looking for marijuana which was often grown outdoors in remote areas. The star witness no longer extant The prosecutor offered a plea deal, I believe it was a suspended sentence of four to six years and George was off the hook if he could be a model citizen for that long. I would soon lose track of both of them even though I had only moved about forty miles away. What happened to Bill certainly didn't interest me as he had become increasingly arrogant and obnoxious. He was married to what seemed a nice young woman, something I couldn't figure. But it wouldn't be the only pair I never figured out (or cared to) as I've seen some strange pairings. Often I wondered whether either or both in those relationships really knew the other, and in time learned that in some cases they did and found a way to accept it and live with it and in some cases one or both really didn't know a lot of things about his/her partner. On account of I was around when they found out. What Bill did between 1988 and 2005 I have no idea. I do seem to remember him being divorced sometime in there, before 2005 when the first record I have of him being prosecuted for drug trafficking. That's about seventeen years. Probably it was that long before he finally got caught, if so he got away with it longer than George did. Or it could be there were other arrests in that time or he could have been living elsewhere. In any event by 2005 he had been prosecuted for manufacture/delivery. What followed mystefies me, once would have been enough for me. But I have never been addicted to anything as far as I know. I smoked and drank, and sometimes would just quit one or the other or both for no specific reason - just stopped doing it and might eventually start again at some point. Certainly I never had withdrawal symptoms or had financial problems because of spending on drugs, Being born into a moderately wealthy family and having successful career helps, but addiction I don't understand. Maybe that's what caused Bill's problems, maybe not. My father often told me that self-discipline was being able to say no to one's self. Dad had no patience for people who didn't have it, and maybe I had a better upbringing than Bill. Certainly I have observed people of my age whose parents gave them whatever they wanted and didn't hold them accountable for misbehavior and most turned out pretty bad. I'm probably less sympathetic to Bill because of his personality, but a life so completely wasted (and for such fleeting and trivial pleasures) is a tragedy. He may well die in prison unless the system jettisons him to save money when he's too broken down to do any harm. And maybe he was just a rotten person. George - remember George? - still works for the lumber company. There are worse things than having a job for over thirty years (I never managed it but I worked in a rather volatile market) and maybe having some nice retirement savings, paid-for house, things like that. Better than being in prison for sure. I believe I remarked that George was a quiet reserved type. Probably personality has something to do with it. Text in images  Last updated: Friday 1 March 2024 22:25:27 1709353527 |
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