User blog:Spikewitwicky/November 17th, 2017 - Spike's Journal Entry



So, Sam was arrested last night. Public intoxication.

Dad told me after he talked with uncle Ron. Ron and Judy were furious. Sam's out of college (he may go back). He's in his 20s. He should be out of his folk's basement, but he seems to be setting up shop there.

So, Sam's at this weird state. In my opinion, he could still fall a few rungs before he hits rock bottom. And it's not like he's a total deviant, derelict. I guess it's this way with every family, but it seems to be especially with ours. The Witwickys, at least beginning with dad (grandpa didn't go through what I'm about to write, but on the other hand, he was a pretty unsavory character all around. Yes, he didn't "slip" (I'm getting to what I mean, promise), but that doesn't exactly mean he was a stellar individual either.)

So, at least for the male portion of the Witwicky clan, all of us have gone through this precipice where we were in danger of getting utterly lost and falling over said precipice, or we found a way to right our course. I'll start with dad, mainly because that's the one I really don't know much of. I know he fought in the Korean War. And for that history, he has been notoriously tight-lipped. He was captured. I'm pretty sure he was at the very least, treated poorly, and at the worst, tortured. He came back. He had that to deal with. And he still had his father. Dad said he was angry a lot. And then...he met Susan. He credited mom for a lot. Everything from coping with the war to not turning into his dad. And for that, I'm eternally grateful.

Now, let's look at Buster. Because of our ... situation with the Autobots - dad thought Buster would jump at the opportunity to live with them when he got older. That didn't happen. By that time, dad and I were so entrenched with the Autobot cause, we couldn't...okay, didn't turn back. Buster felt like we chose the Autobots over him. That isn't true, but face it, the evidence on the surface looks pretty damning.

As a result, he was angry as well. And in school, he sort of took the decade-plus path. He just kept staying in school. On the surface, that's great. Far better of a path than Sam. But it seemed like he was just doing it to avoid going out in the "real world." It got to a point where he could have had a mountain of student loan debt, and a masters in English, and a job he hated. But he eventually got a professorship. And now, he's a professor at a the University of Oregon.

And then there's me. I wanted to prove I could make it, career-wise, without the Autobot name. I started school. And soon, I found myself hating it. i started slacking off. And then I found myself failing courses. Carly, who I just married, was getting pissed (rightfully so). And then, something happened that pretty much would break most marriages in two - in addition to career and money arguments, throw in an unexpected pregnancy (while she was a grad student). I realized that I couldn't keep staying out 'til 2 in the morning at bars and finding any construction job that will hire me. I had to actually provide so she could stay in school. So, I managed to get hired at Blackrock, and eventually got to be a foreman. It wasn't the career choice dad wanted. It certainly wasn't the career choice that Carly wanted (I'm pretty sure her and her family envisioned the two of us having a masters degree). But, I started to make good money, enough to keep her in school. Enough to afford day care for Daniel. And because so few guys were wanting to do construction in the '90s, I was actually making more money than if I were to have gotten a masters degree.

So, that's the three of us. Had dad not met Susan, well, I woudln't be here. And he could have very well just found a job as a mechanic. Married someone. And started repeating the same mistakes his dad did. Had Buster not kicked it in gear, he may still be in college, trying to avoid real-life until the student loan people finally cut him off and tossed him out into the "real world." And had things gone a hair different, Carly and I may have been divorced, taking our visitation turns with Daniel.

So, Sam's now in a similar position. I don't know how he's going to respond.