Today I got a call from a strange number while I was at work. I ignored it but the caller did leave a message. When I listened to it later, it was from a woman who had been Kyle's hmmmmmm....what's the euphemism for parole officer? She is also Kyle's biggest fan. And why shouldn't she be? How often does she get someone assigned to her who really wants to clean up his life? How often does she get someone who doesn't beat his girlfriend or want to be a knucklehead anymore? She is so fond of him that she pushed for his early release with honors and recommended him for state parolee of the year. These things can sound like dubious distinctions, mixed blessings, honor in a world of dishonor. We joked a while back: How do you brag about being Parolee of the Year? But that would be measuring Kyle by outside standards and not comparing him to himself and the remarkable person he has become. I live with him day in and day out. I know his foibles, his pecadillos, his bad habits. He is messy. He puts things down and doesn't remember where. He leaves his tools out in the rain. He drives my car and forgets to take the keys out of his pocket. He doesn't understand time management extremely well, and thinks it takes less time to say, build a duplex doghouse with hinged doors, a shingled roof and locking doors, than it really does. But the big things---true remorse for past behavior, honesty, hard work, life goals, commitment, how he treats people----are all in the right place. This is how he should be measured, and by those standards, he has overcome volumes of adversity.
So why, if he has been honorably discharged from the system, is the former parole officer calling?
There is a TV show called---yep, that's right-----Pitbulls and Parolees. It is broadcast on one of the cable networks, and the kids used to record and watch it when they lived in the desert. A woman up in the mountains north of the city has a pitbull rescue ranch. She is a very thorough, organized, strong, and no-nonsense person. She hires parolees to work on the ranch and, as a result, they are half of the topic of the TV show. The parole officer had been contacted by the show for referrals. She said in her message to me that she had spoken to Kyle about interviewing for the show but he hadn't told her whether or not he was going to go to his interview at 2 that afternoon. She said he could skip the preliminary interviews and go right to meeting with the producers.
Kyle had already planned on attending the interview. When he got there, someone asked his name. When he answered, another parolee in the waiting room said, "Are you -----? I heard all about you at camp!" Yep, he's a legend at camp. This kid had arrived after Kyle had left. Kyle had been a fire line crew leader and had risen to the highest position allowed. This young man told Kyle his replacement hadn't had the same leadership qualities as Kyle and his crew fell apart a few months later. Kyle admitted it had been a hard crew to run but he was a bit surprised that his name was still being used at camp after he had left.
He said there were some scary-looking guys at the interview---ones with lots of teardrops going down their cheeks and tattoos all over their bodies, probably the homemade kind. The producers said they thought the ranch owner would love Kyle.
So now we start with the jokes about Kyle being a TV star. It would actually be a job at the ranch. The broadcasts are incidental. But Kyle has a strong and likable personality. At 6'5" he's strikingly tall and he is people-oriented. I think the cameras will take to him. So we joke about the show morphing to 'Kyle's Canines', 'Carmi and Kyle's Special K9's' or 'Kyle's Excellent K9 Adventure'.
The next conversation, though, was about whether or not the pay and the commute to the ranch would be worth it. He would have to give up unemployment and the commute is long. Gas alone would be pricey, even if he drove the CNG Civic. And what if he didn't like the job? Even though he loves animals, it sounds like there are a lot rules at the ranch. I'm not saying he can't follow rules. He can. But if it's over-regimented because of the nature of the 'employees' pasts, it might be too unpleasant. And then there would be his co-workers.......
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