I've always known I was different. Mainly because I'd say things that made perfect sense to me, and then I'd notice that everyone was looking at me weirdly and I'd think, "Oh shit, I've done it again."
Apparently starting stories with the line "When I was in prison..." turns people off. When you then add to that sentence "the first (or second) time", it freaks them out even more. Apparently most people have never been in gaol. Who knew? Most of my friends have, I have, fuck, who hasn't?
A lot of people it turns out.
Also, a lot of people have never done drugs. Again, who knew? Drugs have been a part of my life for over a quarter of a century. Taking them, making them ,selling them, whatever. They were just a part of life. They got me respect and money. Two of the most important things in the world where I came from. It's only been in the last few years that I've learned I can have both respect and money without drugs. Again, who knew?
Violence? Another daily staple of my life that seems to perplex most people. "How did you survive in a world where violence was accepted?" Violence wasn't just accepted, it was everything. If you couldn't fight for it and protect it, it was taken from you.
I don't condone violence. I hate it. And I'm also not very good at it. I'm small and I don't punch very hard. I've had my ribs, my hands, my face and my head broken open on many occasions. But I lived.
And that's the most important thing.
I lived.
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