AN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE

The prisoners will tell you: Making an apology in the joint is an admittance of guilt. You’ll be perceived as soft. Therefore, never apologize, and never ever take the rap for anything or for anyone. It’s part of the prison culture. It’s a given. Better not to talk, not to say anything.

Last Friday, through a memorandum, I was labeled “non-essential” and told not to report to work next week. After a fun-filled weekend of uncertainty, of not knowing whether I’d be earning a paycheck—“earning” being too strong a word considering my “non-essentiality”—I discovered that the following Monday morning, via the 6 o’clock news, that I had to report back to work. It was business as usual. Hallelujah! No apologies necessary; just keep making those direct deposits into my bank account so I can pay my bills.

The same day as my “non-essential” status I received a response to a year-old email I had sent to an acquaintance, a friend from the past. I hadn’t seen nor heard from him in a very long long time. Here’s our correspondence:

September 08, 2006:

Hey Neal,
I received one of Terry’s yearly emails (yeah, about one a year), and I started scrolling through the list of names and saw yours. I thought, since it’s been … oh … what? … 20 years, maybe more, or less … I thought I’d give you a ring (email anyway). How have you been? Give me an update. In case you haven’t heard, I’ve been in prison for the past 15 years (working that is).

September 28, 2007:

Hey JR,
I was just going through old emails and realized that I had never responded to you. I tried to visit your blogspot just now but it looks quite different from what I remember a year ago, so I assume it is no longer a correct address. I think you are right that it has been about 20 years. A lot happens in that period of time. Here is my sequence of events:

Moved to AZ in 1991. Bought a t-shirt business. Did a lot of product for the Disney theme parks and Silicon Valley companies. Spun off a subsidiary called Burlesco that provided merchandise to 200 touring strippers. I mean exotic dancers.

During the Internet boom/bust, I started an online celebrity website. I made the official websites for John Travolta, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, and about 100 others. Got wiped out in the end.

My claim to fame, I snubbed advances from actress Diane Lane and one of my business partners is the person that the character of Ari on the HBO show Entourage is based on. Other claim to fame: Had a daughter in 1997. Turning 10 in December. I am going to the Hannah Montana concert in a couple of months and I know all the songs from High School Musical.

Went into gaming in 2000 by purchasing some intellectual property with my former net partners. We license casino games to the online gaming industry. Business is based out of the UK. It’s a small business with just 5 employees but it pays the bills and gets me to Europe a few times a year. Building a couple of web based businesses here in Phoenix. Tom Waring lives about an hour from me, so I see him from time to time. I am still rooting for the Detroit Lions. I talk to Terry about twice a year I guess. My mother passed away about 10 years ago and my father followed a year and a day later.

I suppose that is it. Nothing too crazy, just living life. By the way, thanks for writing. It was nice hearing from you.

My reaction:

I guess there’s a price one must pay for stability, for being “non-essential.”