You made some pretty good points *pop* (600mg Lithium Carbonate) *gulp* (pretty good coffee with half & half and sugar)
*pop* multi-symptom allergy crap w ibuprofen, and made me really look at just what was making me feel that way. Well after a lot of thought, I discovered that my line of thinking was personal and purely One Dementional. The real deal is that no one has noticed the really fucked up thing about ME and ever mentioned it. You actually danced on the tip of the iceberg and for that I give you a big thumbs up. Perhaps it is your own "programing" that prevented you from delving further.
Straight basically made me what I am today. When I went in the program, my name was Bob Newman, my name meant nothing to me. My last name was the product of an abusive step father who thought it would be cute to "adopt" me and my sister after years of abusing us and take a lump sum payment from the State of Florida for "enriching our lives." One of the main reasons my first phase lasted so long was that Straight had to get my mom out of the picture and it took over 2 and a half months. From the inside, I could sense that no matter what I did, staff was not prepared to let me advance, so I became a jerk. What the hell else was I supposed to do? I was too young to take care of myself, and too old for the Foster Care System. I figured I would see what steps my dad would take to clear up the mess. It took some major string pulling to get me transfered to Dixie Hollins. Because I transfered from an Elective School to a Comprehensive School, my grade point average got all fucked up and I did not recieve credit for taking honors courses from Pinellas Park High.
I am getting off the track a little here, I guess, but as you can see, there was a whole lot of ways I was cheated out of a fair shake because of my involvement with Straight. Nobody ever talked about it, nobody ever asked me how I felt, and quite honestly I was too busy finding unhealthy ways to hold the anger in to try to talk about any of it myself. Very few people knew what I was going through and those that did kept their distance. The most common response from people that saw the conditions I had to live under, always playing second fiddle to a couple of underachieving 'mama's boys' that were my stepbrothers, finding out my dad was a pussywhipped coward hiding behind the "Weekend Warrior" guise of the Florida National Guard were all a pretty fuckin big pill to swallow at the tender age of 15, leaving most of my friends to ask me "Why do you put up with it?" I guess the answer to that would be because killiing them all and setting the house on fire to make it look like an accident would'nt have solved anything,
So yeah, to sum it up, while I would WELCOME someone stepping forth and naming names and bringing to light some of the many ways and unfair situations Straight made a mess of my life, there are other people that would rather not think about it, be reminded of it, or be invited to talk about it. Just because this forum used to be a valuable tool in helping others reach closure does not mean it is now. Anyone climbing aboard Fornits after around late 2004 is pretty much left out in the cold. The meaningful posters have long since departed. I am not saying that I am the only one, or that I am even special in any sense. I really don't give much of a fuck about people on these boards anymore. Straight Survivors has become a sick and twisted little Mickey Mouse Club and I have come to realize that I don't fit in anymore. So be it. The only reason I frequent this forum is for the slim to none chance that I am able to meet and help those who need it, and maybe reunite with what few friends I managed to garner through that hellatious experience. That night on the Skyway was a turning point for all who were there. If you are going after snook, try to catch some yellowtail or pinfish first and keep them alive in a bait well with an aerator pump. I used to hook em through the dorsal and bloody them up with a knife. You'll know you hooked a snook on it pretty easy, cause they'll just about yank the pole from from your hands, but for some reason, the fuckers will shy back if you use anything thicker than 14 pound test. Good Luck, see ya later, and thanks for the advice, really........Bob
Holy shit, Dick Tracy!!! I actually got so caught up on my soapbox speech that I actually called the forum by it's former name of Straight Survivors, which only goes to show how fucked up things have gotten around here. The name was changed to Straight Inc. Veterans after everything went to shit. You can see how much the name change helped make this such a nice and friendly place.......my bad

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