The other night at work, I was talking to this guy who I work with, and somehow or other the conversation got around to whether or not I had ever done anything rebellious or something. He had this idea that I'm some sort of paragon of virtue because I don't drink (well, I do drink, just not on regular occassions and not in binge quantities) and I don't smoke (I think it's nasty, and besides even second hand smoke makes my asthma go crazy) and whatever else it is that I don't do. Anyway, what I don't generally advertise because it tends to be too hard to explain (here I am saying that I don't generally advertise it but am broadcasting it on the internet to the entire world) is that I sort of have a juvie arrest record in two states. I'll let that sink in for you all...
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Yep, you read that right, I have a juvie record in two states. I suppose that I ought to tell you what it's for. When I was almost 13, I was arrested for blocking the door of an abortion clinic in Port St. Lucie, Florida. I was one of those "radicals" who was involved with Operation Rescue. On two other occassions, I also got detained and released into the custody of my parents without being charged for violating an injunction that said that certain people and organizations could not go within 30 feet of a particular abortion clinic in Melbourne, Florida. I wasn't named on the injunction, but that didn't stop me from getting led off by the cops who were arresting anybody who was prolife. The next year, I was arrested in Birmingham, Alabama for "protesting without a permit" because the city dug out an old civil rights movement era law that made it illegal for more than 30 people to gather in one spot without a permit and then selectively enforced it on only one side of the street--the side I was on.
Again, back to the original point, somewhere in the conversation with the guy I work with, I mentioned that I have a juvie record and even though it's for the sort of things that it's for, he was seriously impressed because he didn't think that I, of all people, would have a criminal record. He thinks it's really cool that I've not only been arrested, I've been arrested more than he has and in multiple states.
So, there you have it, I'm a juvinile criminal. Are you impressed?
< evil smirk >
No, but if it makes your co-workes and your friends respect you more or easier to be around them then good for you. Perhaps you were just setting yourself up for a carrer as a lobbist insteead of just protesting??? I enjoy reading your blog.
Posted by: Randy Newport at Diciembre 9, 2004 02:43 PMThanks for the compliment on my blog.
I've actually done a bit of lobbying, trying to convince the Florida legislature not to make it a felony to protest within 300 ft of an abortion clinic (thankfully, that law got killed when the Senate president pulled a rules trick).
Or, taking part in a revolution would be pretty cool too.
Posted by: kathryn at Diciembre 11, 2004 01:40 AM