| Blogs / Ramblings
1/29/2009 - Trapped In An Elevator
1/27/2009 - The Close Call
1/14/2009 - Tom McCoy
12/23/2008 - Political Science
12/09/2008 - Grinch
10/08/2008 - 30th Birthday
7/25/2008 - Installing Blinds
6/03/2008 - The Great Wall
5/30/2008 - Rudeness
5/22/2008 - Sick Days At Work
4/09/2008 - Home Warrantee
3/31/2008 - Animal Crackers
3/17/2008 - Green Beverage Day
3/05/2008 - I Should Write A Novel
2/26/2008 - The Evil Oak
2/18/2008 - A Tribute To My iPod
2/11/2008 - Criminology Textbooks
2/04/2008 - The Surgery
1/31/2008 - WDW Marathon Part V
1/25/2008 - WDW Marathon Part IV
1/19/2008 - WDW Marathon Part III
1/17/2008 - WDW Marathon Part II
1/16/2008 - WDW Marathon Part I
1/12/2008 - Marathon Details
1/09/2008 - Running From My Run
1/04/2008 - The Holidays
1/01/2008 - First Blog
Criminology Textbooks
How my little known letter to the editor became a part of required reading. . . . Moaning, arguing, and criticizing are not only fun, but they can bring fame
and credibility as well. Everyone loves a squeaky wheel!
As a perfect example, I will bring up my favorite subject: Myself.
I recently purchased a book that happened to quote me. And why was I quoted?
Because I was complaining.
When I was 17, the state and local governments proposed several new restrictions
on everyone's favorite age group-- teenagers. The idea of these laws was
to combat bad parenting by transforming the government into a good parent
or, at the very least, a good big brother. Given the severe lack of teens
in the Florida legislature, it was no surprise when these laws passed.
New curfews, punishments, and driving restrictions were enacted to control
this wild and unruly portion of the population. Middle aged adults and senior
citizens flocked the streets in manic celebration-just because they could
(at least, I assume that's what happened… I wasn't really allowed out
to see).
Boy-howdy, this was upsetting to those of us who weren't full-time troublemakers.
Without a voting course of recourse (yes, I know what I just said), I wrote
to the Orlando Sentinel.
When they published my letter, the editor gave it a catchy title that was
clearly in touch with the youth at the time-- "I don't understand why teens
get such a bad rap." For the record, I would never, ever, put "bad" and "rap"
in the same sentence. I have far too much respect for what that genre of
music has accomplished.
I continued my complaining for the next few months, following up with more
letters and even a speech or two. I hammered in the point that not all teens
were trouble. It probably would have been best if I parted ways with
my street gang at the time, but the knife fighting really helped calm me
down before giving those speeches.
A few years went by, and I gradually forgot about the letter. The soothing
tunes of Rap music had become my escape. I had moved on to college, and lost
the credibility to complain about issues that were no longer my own. When
I was a junior, however, a publisher phoned me asking if they
could quote my letter. I turned down my rap music long enough to listen to
what she had to say.
A group of authors writing a textbook on criminology were interested in my
old letter to the editor. They would undoubtedly "rip ol' Jeff a new one"
as the publisher stated, but I would get to see my name in print. Not finding
anything wrong with this, I gave my permission and never heard another word
from them.
That was ten years ago.
Last week, I decided to update my links page with more "links to everything
Lofvers" (again, favorite subject: ME). Thanks to the magic of the interweb,
I was able to locate an obscure textbook by the name of "Criminology and
the Criminal Justice System" by Adler, Mueller, and Laufer.
I should point out that I remembered very little about my initial letter.
I would have quoted the whole thing for you here, but I can't seem to locate
a complete copy. Sure, I can see it at the
Orlando Sentinel
website, but they want $3.95 to read the archives. That's almost four
dollars! Why should I have to pay to read my own writing? That goes against
everything I've ever stood for in my entire life.
So anyway, I bought the book that quoted my letter. It cost a fortune but
it arrived on Thursday.
My quote was in the midst of a discussion regarding pro-social behavior and
the reasons people avoid committing delinquent acts. Try to contain your
excitement. In order to give an example of a negative belief, they used my
quote regarding driving restrictions:
"This type of prejudice insults me as an individual, but I am helpless
because I can't vote. Then again, it's not as if any of the new legislation
is affecting me, right? Why should I have any say in my own life? After all,
I'm just a teen."
Ah, precious sarcasm.
Rather than going on to praise my courage and independence, the authors then
went off on a tangent about young people being more likely to commit delinquent
acts if they feel that laws are unfair. I'd quote directly what the authors
had to say, but it's really not all that important. What IS important is
the fact that my complaining was so loud and so whiney, that I was rewarded
with a semblance of fame and notoriety.
Oh sure, today's teenagers are subjected to even more restrictions and
regulations. Whether they're tried as adults, or kept off their own street
after dark, life can be pretty unfair. But when they reach college just a
few years from now, they can look forward to reading MY words and studying
their meaning.
In the end, I think that's what's truly important.
Jeff's Moral For The Day: If you wish to get far in life, hard work
and diligence is nothing when compared to the ultimate power of complaint.
|