I had no where to go. I was sleeping on the couch of a friend. I was almost finally making money again. It was still a struggle.
I was talking to a friend of mine, "I need a place to live, a room to rent". He was standing next to a mutual acquaintance who wasn't paying attention. He nudged the guy, "you need a roommate?" He did.
I moved in. Within a few weeks of living with him he was arrested. Accused of stealing a $12,000 piece of equipment from his work. He posted bail. Things went back to normal. A few weeks later his girlfriend was arrested for stealing money from the bank she worked at. She had to bail him out.
A couple weeks go by, one of my every day friends has the tags stolen from his truck. The person who stole his tags robbed a bank - not from the inside like my new roommates girlfriend - from the outside, and with a gun. Armed robbery.
I was surrounded by 2 robbers and a suspect. Good people. In trouble with the law.
One got to pay a fine and avoid prison. Another got pregnant and diversion, and avoided jail. The last was just in the wrong place at the wrong time (your tags it turns out can be stolen anywhere and it's an actual epidemic if you google it). He's no longer a suspect. I was in the wrong place too. I was smack dab in the middle of all them, like a Boss.
Everyone always says, "you are the equivalent of the 5 people you hang out with the most". It may be true. I only knew that for months I was stressed out. What if they came after me? I had nothing to do with anything. I was innocent.
I stole a grape when I was 5 years old. I got choked on the seed. I never stole again. Not one thing. Not one time.
When I was 14 I was working at a hamburger joint. I had friends that worked there. One came to me. "I was with a couple girls last night. Stole a bunch of Christmas stuff". He was a bragger. I said, "yeah right and whatever. Bring me something then." He brought a 5 foot Christmas staking. Next thing I know I'm in the back of a police car. "Receiving Stolen Goods".
I didn't believe the guy. He bragged ALL the time. Sure, he had sex with two girls the night before. Sure, he stole a bunch of stuff. Sure, he's going to bring me something.
The cops came over. Sat down with me and my parents at our house. Said the homeowner wasn't going to press charges. My dad was a part time pastor so that was a relief. BUT the COPS pressed charges. My first experience with anything judicial. They pressed charges themselves. Done. Absolutely done.
So I go to the judge. Stand before him. 6 months probation. Expunged after a year or more, as long as "I stayed out of trouble". I was never in trouble. It was a joke. It wasn't stealing $12,000 of equipment. It wasn't robbing the bank I worked at. It wasn't the homeowner pressing the charges. It was a loud mouth friend and some cops.
Their reason was there was another friend (of his that I did not know) involved. No one knows 2nd and 3 parties. I didn't. So I got what that guy might have.
Loudmouth braggers usually have an element of truth to whatever they are saying. A germ of honesty in their words. That was the pocket change lesson learned from that.
Even though everyone hates and can't stand a one-upper who never stops trying to top you and what you do, there's still a little something there and if you're not careful, you can be arrested. And cops can pretty much do what ever they want whenever they feel like doing it and are pretty much completely and totally above the law in any and all situations (that was a tough lesson to not only learn, but believe - but I saw it first hand).
Choose your friends wisely.
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