THE OBSERVER & ECCENTRIC

During my senior year in high school my role as captain of the cross country team had been diminished to co-captain status. Something about setting a bad example for the others, something about too much partying on the weekends and getting into mischief even though I did fairly well come race day. On Mondays we had this after school ritual where, as we stretched for our practice run, our coach would ask us how many miles we put in over the weekend. Whoever had the most mileage made the local newspaper under the headline, “Runner of the Week.” I caught on to the method to his madness and strategically placed myself last, that way when my turn finally came, I could report the most miles. After having my mug shot in the local “Observer & Eccentric” a few times, I grew tired of my own antics and let things play out as they should.

At work we had this inmate tutor, obviously a middle-child craving for attention, skating the hallways, waiting for opportunities to talk with the women staff members. He used to read those small town newspapers, faithfully searching for female “student athletes of the week," or other human-interest stories involving teenage girls. He’d find out as much information as possible and phone them with congratulatory messages. From there, he’d try arranging secret places to meet. Needless to say, his predatory methods landed him in prison.

I used to observe this sad, pathetic human being outside my classroom. He knew the exact time our female classification director arrived for work. One day I confronted him. “I don’t want to see you out here,” I said from my classroom doorway. “In fact, I don’t want to see you period. If I do, I’m writing you a ‘Temporary Out of Place’ ticket and you can explain yourself to the hearings investigator.”

Soon afterward he disappeared from our facility. However, some habits are definitely hard to break. In his spare time I heard he had fallen back into his old ways—reading various newspapers and writing and calling young teenage girls. I guess some people can never out run their personal demons no matter how many restrictions are placed on them.