How a young person managed to turn his life around, translated…
This youth with a shy smile, and face, full of pimples appeared, before me, said, timidly, “My classmate told me to show up for work today!”, when he’d told me his classmate’s name, I’d, shook my head, “I don’t know who your friend is and, we’d filled up the slots we’d needed, for the temporary positions already!” Seeing how he was very courteous, and was about to leave, I’d hollered out to him, “If you’re willing to, just stay and help us out!”
And, apparently, he does, have part-timing experience, he was, very swift as he, carried up the plates, and remembered all the orders of the various tables too, and, always wore that bright smile on his face. He was called “Hsian”, I’d asked him curiously, “You’re already in the second to last year of high school, and you’d, dropped out? Will you, return to school, to study again?”, he’d nodded his head hard, “I was in the tourism majors, and I enjoyed it very much, but I can’t return to school right now, I don’t want to cause any troubles there!”
As we sat down to chit-chat, I’d found, that there was, a smeared tattoo on his arms, he’d detected my gaze, smiled and told me, “It’s a tattoo, I’m getting rid of it right now with laser surgery. I was, a bad kid before, in my last year of middle school, I’d gotten into a fight with those truant kids outside of my school, later on, the guy I beaten up apologized, treated me to a meal in Taipei, said that I would get paid. That, was the first time I was ever involved in this sort of activities, all who showed up were, dressed in black, they were, collecting the debts using violent means, back then, I didn’t know any better, just wanted to make the extra cash, so I’d, followed along.”
I’d asked if he was scared back then, he’d shaken his head, “With money to earn, and, they’d cared about you a lot, and, we’d gone out as a group, and, it’d fitted, to my problem of wanting to make myself known. Until one day, my mother noticed that I’d kept a weird schedule, and that, was when she realized, that I was involved with the mobsters, my father was so angered that he’d, beaten me up, told me that I’d needed to, pull myself out of this circle”.
But, he didn’t heed his father’s advice, until once when he’d gone out with the head of the gang, saw him, shoot someone in the shoulders, and later on, the head of the gang threatened him, that if he’d squealed, he’d known where his house was, where his mother worked. And that, was when Hsian finally was scared, and decided to cut his ties, with that sort of a style of life, and, returned all the money given to him by the gang members, back to them all.
“But, they’d still waited for me, outside of my school for me to get off, and used the softer methods, to appeal to me, to get me back in, I’m among the luckier ones, didn’t touch any illegal substances, mom and my school teacher suggested that I drop out first, so I can, get away from all of this.”
After hearing Hsiang’s story, other than commending him on a job well-done at work, and I was also, very glad for him, for he’d found, his way out, before it’s, too late. On this particular day, I’d managed, to find myself, an able-bodied helper at work, and heard a very good story. Hsian, I will, give you, a million kudos, on the Facebook of your life!
And so, this young man realized, what he was doing, with the gang was bad, and, pulled himself out immediately, and that takes a lot to do, because as a teenager, you’d desperately tried to find a place to fit in, and, if you’re unsure of your own values, then, you’d become, easily, enticed, by these sorts of bad groups, and, these groups will appease to the teenagers’ need to belong, and, they’d targeted those teens, without a strong family background too, but, luckily, this young man had gotten out, just in time.
Life, the Obstacle Course 