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« on: July 15, 2003, 10:26:00 AM »
Overall I do have some good memories in spite of the horrors of Straight Inc. I was not a drug user when I went in which was tough as some of you could imagine. Those that believed in me and supported my stance were "rays of light" if you will. I guess I couldn't blame the people who didn't trust me, there were many people who came in with my story... only to reveal a "drug list" after "getting honest". The only thing I needed to be honest about was coming from a horribly disfunctional family and being full of hate, anger..(pull some other feeling out the air) LOL. Some of you will find this strange, but my drug and way of burying all of my pain was in sports, that never was a popular statement.
Other things I enjoyed were some of the other Straighlings, two that come to mind were Andy and Aaron. Andy was probably my favorite person there, he would often tell people, "Dave doesn't have a drug problem, he doesn't need to be here." With most everybody telling you're full of shit, that was something much needed to keep my head straight. Another guy who would drive us to a host home I stayed at for a while reminded of an close Uncle of mine who always makes me laugh.
Other things I enjoyed were host homes related. One host home had an interesting travel through Wash. DC, which we sometimes pass hookers. Being an early teen in a repressed environment, seeing hookers was pretty exciting. This particular home had a sibling who was into freestyle biking and some skateboarding, which was fun to watch out the window. Any source of entertainment was welcomed.
There was one other home in a rather ritzy neighborhood who had a daughter in the program. Being on first phase was tough to communicate with them, but they wanted me to tell them how their daughter was doing... behind the oldcomer's back of course. I felt like a part of their family and the mom would make me some special requested food items, like Lasagna...YUM!
Another thing I enjoyed was when the ex-Straightlings who were disgruntled would hang out by the exit from the parking lot. I can remember being told to ignore them and not make eye contact... but I did. Funny stuff now that I think about it.
Other things I learned that may be beneficial is how to better express myself and understand the reason why people use drugs to begin with. I think those are good things.