Hyya “Sam”
Glad to hear all is well. Yes, it seems that once in a while we all tend to drop of the radar for host of reasons. I just knew that your neck of the globe had had its fair share of turbulent weather and simply felt concerned. Wasn’t sure if that would impact your plans to venture to the states or not. Because when ya do come, I would enjoy sitting with you for a bit.
Ya said, “What a strange creature hath evolved from our early ordeals.”
Well yeah…No doubt. Recently I overheard a guy talking about how he would love to return to the days of his adolescence. I suppose, I sneered or made some other sound and he asked, “Wouldn’t you?”. Without hesitation, I said, “Hell No!” I said it with such impact, not only did it surprise him, but it also shocked me, the immediacy of my response.
Then when I reflect on programs of today, the CEDU’s, the KHK’s and other “derivatives”. Yeah, a lil more polished up, a few more lies in the literature…when it comes down to it, seems like the same whore in a different dress. It’s still warehousing kids…
Back in the day, and I am sure the St. Pete Times archives will concur…At one point Straight Inc made no bones about kicking the shit out of kids. I know this because those were the words my dad used the day he and my mom took me to Straight Inc. “The paper says they will beat the hell out you if you mess around.”
I knew of Straight Inc, but never in a thousand years did I think I would end up there. But alas…I was wrong. And you recall “Sam” my state of bewilderment that first night…WHAT THE HELL?
But as time went on, over the decades the practice of warehousing remains under a much heavier cloak of secrecy and deception. And of course the lies became well polished and the “pitch” to the parents perfected…and so the abuse machine continues to grow and gain momentum.
Ya said, “My therapeutic need comes from all of that crap I have repressed that made what others call (probably correctly) a hellhole, tolerable.”
A double mind fuck: Straight Inc did its damage and then we had to fuck with our own sense of impending doom and bring some semblance of a homoeostatic balance to our troubled hearts and souls. The major problem with that effort is/was that it didn’t work well. What seemed to pass for an acceptable behavior and response was robotic an automation of adolescence…Simply put…a fucked up teenager. Not one of us walked away from Straight Inc unaffected. Doesn’t matter whether one graduated, 7th stepped, got pulled, copped out, terminated or simply fucking split. Went thru Straight Inc.---Damaged goods, end of discussion. The saga continues for the younger ones enduring the abuse today and for us old geezers that endured same abuse 30+ years ago.
Ya also said, “My experience at Straight, while not a picnic, was not nearly as traumatic for me as it was for others, leaving me sitting alone in dark corner asking "Why not?".
Although we had similar experiences, they were not exact. Even though we were fairly intelligent teens, we coped differently, yet were affected/effected differently. Our post Straight Inc experience was also different. All these differences and yet one common denominator, Straight Inc. The result…damaged goods. Somewhere along the line, if examined closely and sometimes it can be glaringly obvious that we all are damaged.
I think there is a need to help folks in trouble, kids or adults…providing there is an actual problem. Yet to run with an idea, that sounds good at the time, reads well on paper and seems like a good idea…one would do well to think about LONG TERM EFFECTS. That is what kills me. Everyone seemingly jumped on the “treatment” bandwagon giving no thought to the long term effects. Now, how can brain washing effects be so perfectly implemented, obviously they were studied and examined. And no one read the final chapters of the studies made in Chinese Reform methods, the Korean methods and run of the mill Jim Jones type cults. No one thought to read case studies of the survivors and ask…well jeesh, arnt we about to do the same thing to these kids? Obviously not.
“Why not?”, well Sam we each were effected differently and we interpret trauma differently and we have 30+ years of outside experience that filters much of it. We gain coping skills, via drinking, smoking, doping, reading…having families, growing up….just doing what we can do to be decent people on this planet. And like you implied at the beginning “What a strange creature hath evolved from our early ordeals.” Yes, they have gotten better at implementing the damage, more trauma is endured…Shit got a lot worse after you and I were there.
I wish you much peace my friend and when you return to the states I hope to see you.
Namaste
woof
