1. i am a bleeding liberal and incredibly opinionated.
2. i have some really entertaining stories from my experience working in corrections.
3. my father has a history including some pretty serious drug and alcohol abuse.
apparently, my grandfather (my mom's father) knows approximately none of these things - which became pretty clear during a conversation we had earlier today.
my grandpa was telling me about a guy he recently had to fire from his shop because the dude got all angry and cursed at my him. i don't know about you, but i know about zero 81-year-old men who would take kindly to being cursed at by their employees. this led to a discussion of drug abuse (because this guy did drugs*) and whether or not people can change. i made a comment about how it's surprising that my family is where they are, considering all we've come through to get to this point. enter grandpa:
grandpa: i think that people who have drank a lot...you know, been alcoholics can be rehabilitated. they can really change. but those other people, the people who have used drugs...i don't think there's any coming back from that. they just don't ever change.
me:...grandpa, what do you think dad did?
[at this point in time, it's important to know that my dad and grandpa have a really good relationship. they spend time together and actually talk (something people don't usually do with my grandfather) and my grandpa respects my father]
grandpa: [barely hesitating] well, i guess he probably did more than just drink a little.
me: yeah...a little.
grandpa: [without hesitation] well, i just don't think they can change.
unflappable, that man is. in a lesser man, i would see it as stubbornness. in my grandpa...it's stubbornness with a side of righteous indignation? i have no idea. i went on to explain to him that my career choices are dependent on people being able to change, so i can't think like that. he responded by telling me that experience teaches him that it's not possible.
i think my favorite part of this story was retelling it to my parents later on. :)
*according to my grandfather, who is admittedly probably not an expert
by the way, whose lazy dog is this?
too bad everyone can't enjoy the sun so much.
happy march!
No comments:
Post a Comment