I agree with Buttons, if you haven't talked to NSC you don't know him.
He is highly intelligent, have you read his poetry. He DOES HAVE A JOB
and makes good money and supports himself at 18. He is a good kid, grew
up in a very hard area and did what he did to survive. He had a lot of
personal loss growing up, those of you who haven't talked to him don't
know him and don't know what he went through.

He is young, but is very intelligent for his age. Give him a chance and
don't put him down for his young point of view. Go read some of his
poetry, and he makes really good money now supporting himself. Don't
beat him up for his point of view.

Everyone has had bad experiences with gangs but judge him for who he is
today, not what he may have been in the past.

buttons>>yep i have to agree there..dwight<<
brandy12345>>Dwight you finally made me smile didnt think you had it in
ya!!!<<
I have achieved goodness today then :)
Mom! Did you hear that? They smiled!

well like u dwight from what u first said till i have a different
opionion of u too... your do seem to be a pretty good guy.... just i
know nsc story too and did not want to put it in this room its much
deeper than marie even says..... but i do see messages in his things he
writes.. before i went out and devalued his life....

Dwight you are growing on
me!

dwight

me too hes pretty cool

buttons>>but i do see messages in his things he writes.. before i went
out and devalued his life<<
The thing is buttons is 18 is a very important transition age for
boys/men.
We are a little later than females in maturing, it's a nature fact. The
key
is sorting out some of the confusion and getting a goal set. Doesn't
matter
is the goal is huge (I wanna be a lawyer) or the goal is a small step
(tomorrow I'm going to get out of bed at 05:30 and make a resume)
It's the goal set everyone needs. When you achieve the goal your reward
yourself. After awhile you use the goals like a drug, you keep setting
and achieving
and then one magical day you say to yourself
"I can do anything I want, I am totally capable!" ...and you can.

I should have mentioned when your working on your goals you will
find other people will keep telling you how impossible it is.
These are their fears not yours.

i hear ya but it does all start with a dream... when that age the goals
should be a lil smaller that 17k though... lol for if u set your goals
too high and dont reach it.. then u tend to not want to set other
goals.. ya set a lower goal and reach it ya build it up higher each time


ps: just cause someone has toys or houses doesnt mean they arent paid
for or are a person who would overspend..yes i do see alot of this
happen.. yes this is not a good thing to do one could lose all they have
tried to accomplish.... i know all my sets of keys are in my hand... i
do have a brain .... no blonde jokes please

Marie55>Go read some of his poetry, and he makes really good money now
supporting himself. Don't beat him up for his point of view.<<
The thing is Marie55 is "really good money" and "gang" involvement = ?
The math is very bad on that.
"I belong to a gang and I have a full time job" doesn't make much sense
in
the real world.

I have never heard of any gang or gang member donating time or money
to the needy. Words are something anyone can throw out. The difficult
part is discovering the truth.

An honorable person would defend themselves. Maybe he is at work or
doing something else constructive right now but if you want to put
yourself
out you must be there to defend your honor.

and self improvement is always an awesome goal.....

he is in a transitional point in his life... that is what it is all
about and i do have faith in him... knowing the person within
him...

buttons>>i hear ya but it does all start with a dream... when that age
the goals should be a lil smaller that 17k though<<
Again that is one year of minimum wage work, 50 weeks of work.
Not a huge goal but a smaller one would be
"I am going to get up at 05:30 and donate 8 hours to the food bank."

true again..

I don't know about anyone else but everything I have is bought and paid
for, I don't have a credit card or a checking account, I have always
paid with cash. Everything I have I also worked very hard to get. I
don't owe anyone anything so if I die tomorrow I ain't cheating anybody
out of anything

I dont have a car but i have a 12 speed bike does that count?? LOL

dwight give him time hes 18... i highly dought that that he got to learn
this in boyscouts but i see that in the end.. he
will come to see this for u dont know maybe he does this already?

buckethand56>>I don't have a credit card or a checking account<<
Unfortunately we live in a World that requires those things to move onto
other levels.

Lying on a white sand beach with no humans around for 50 miles requires
a plane ticket, a hotel, a rent-a-car. These things are unachievable
without
plastic. The therapy value of lying on that beach is incomparable, you
return
home recharged and ready for anything.

When your son decides he wants to attend Harvard it would be hard to
tell him "As soon as I have all the cash together your in". That would
be a long wait for the son.

Sure you can avoid jumping on the bank-train but your choices will be
extremely limited. That is fine if it's just you but your children may
have
different dreams and wishes for their lives and as a father you accepted
the responsibility for providing that for them the minute you conceived
them.

It is very honorable to not owe anyone any money. Good on you!

AutumnLee21>>i have a 12 speed bike does that count??<<
Anyone that rides a bicycle is top-notch! ;)

Just to make a point about truth and reading people.
nsctilidie posted here giving no credit to the real author
http://www.justsayhi.com/topic/show/17146

Author = The Raven
http://www.ravensrants.com/poetry/000323.html

Warning at site about infringement
http://www.ravensrants.com/cwarning.shtml

Another saying I have is "Where you find one lie a nest of lies awaits."