I always have interesting stories to share about my daily experience of life in South Phoenix. Over the last couple of years I have been able to connect really well with one of our guy teens that looks a little like a Mexican Justin Beber. He is tall, has long bushy hair and is soft spoken. He loves to skateboard and listen to music on his iPod.
My first connection with him and his mom was when he got in trouble for trespassing on school property. This is a common activity for most that live close to their schools. Many like to skateboard or just hang out in the park area around their school. I don’t think he was really aware of the fact that being on school property after 5pm, which seems crazy, is not legal. So he was skating with a group of friends in a common area that most use during the daytime and after school. I am assuming there was a teacher that complained which got a police officer involved.
This facilitated a trip to Juvenile Court for my young friend to make amends for his trespassing. His mom and dad worked and didn’t have the means to take off work. So I volunteer to take him. I did ask his mom to sign a letter giving me permission to act on her behalf. We drive to the JV Court and after waiting to talk with someone discover that mom or dad have to be present for the incident to be resolved. So we make an appointment for the following week. This made it tough on my skinny jeaned friend who wanted this over. He knew that he would have to do community service and pay a fine according to a fellow trespasser.
I drive the following week him and his mom to the JV Court. We end up in the office of a probation officer. The P.O. is a very friendly gentleman that asks probing questions about what happened and whether the minor understands the implications of trespassing in a more serious situation. He discovers while talking with the mom and her son that there is some difficulty at home with dad connecting with the son. The P.O. very wisely gives the following not as punishment but a means to help. He tells the young teen that he needs to write an easy on what he did and why it was inappropriate and then spend 10 hours with his dad over the next month or so. He explained that it wasn’t good for the dad and him not to be on speaking terms.
We left and both mom and son were relieved that it wasn’t really that bad. They both knew that the father and son requirement probably wouldn’t happen but the eassay would in the next week or so. Now to the real story of getting to know the dad and discover that he is a normal guy. I’ve had some exposure to the dad at a distance but had never really done anything with him.
I get a text from the teen asking if I could take his dad to the Powerball office because he had won and the amount was higher then you could redeem at the location Circle K or QT. I agree to do it seeing it as an opportunity to get to know the dad better. I am running late at my last appointment and reassure the teen that I will be there by 4:30. As I am pulling up the teen decides to flake out and then it’s just his dad and me. What I didn’t relay was that the dad wasn’t able to officially get his winnings because he is undocumented. So I was needed to assist in procuring the coveted winning check.
We drive off from the house and I realize that dad is totally English speaking and really a great guy! He is a painter who works with a few friends and him and his wife had recently paid cash for a foreclosure house. We joke and laugh as we drive and talk about what he would do if he had won 10,000 or even 100,000 dollars. I knew that the odds were that he had won at least $1000. So even that is something that would make Christmas this year special.
As we pull up I explained that if it were more than $1,000 I would have to pay taxes on that amount. This meant that he would have to pay me or the taxes would come straight out of his winnings. I walk up to the counter and then fill out all of the forms and we discover that he had won $1,000. So the lady makes out the check and I take it and cash it at my local bank. I give him the winnings and he graciously gives me an incredible tip for assisting in the matter. I jokingly tell him that he needs to win the $100,000 jackpot and then share a tenth with me.
As we drive home it strikes me that here is a dad who works hard to provide for his family but is totally different from his son who is a skater, quiet talker type and listens to strange music. The dad obviously will share his winnings with everyone regardless of their hairstyle or music choices. I am thankful for being there and getting a moment to just listen and talk a little to the dad. I had pondered whether I should start playing Powerball with the hope of winning the $100,000 jackpot. Then reality sets in and I realize that the dad had probably spent $900 dollars to win that with no guarantee. So I’ll keep my pocket change to let my teens pilfer from our assortment of large jars in the house.
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