Thursday, November 17, 2011

(Don't) Say Cheese

This story happened yesterday, but I was too tired to put it into words. I'm feeling better today. Must have been the donuts! Also, this post will make a bunch more sense if you actually know Jack. Though even then it might not make any sense. Depends on the Jack you know.

Working at the jail is educating me about all sorts of things, not the least of which is the drug culture. (By the way, you might be surprised at how often the discussions I have in class with inmates who have been caught up in dealing turn into discussions about specific transferable skills that can be real assets in more legitimate pursuits).

Anyway, yesterday I learned about a new iteration of heroin that might be headed our way. It's cut with Tylenol PM and ends up a brownish, orange-ish powder. It's called cheese. Law enforcement has been instructed to watch for the word cheese, along with variations on the term, in text messages, online posts, etc.

As Jack and I drove home from school, I thought we'd better have a chat about it.

"I know, Mom. Don't do drugs."

"Oh, yeah. That, too. Definitely. But what I'm actually warning you about is using the word "cheese" when you post online or text your friends. You might want to drop the 'I like cheese' bit."

"Noooooooooooooooo! People always ruin the good things!"

Wish it wasn't so, Jack. But you can still like pie. At least for now.

3 comments:

Uncle John said...

I agree with Jack. Perhaps he could start using French, Italian or Spanish words for cheese: Fromage, fromaggio or queso.

Margy said...

Maybe fromage. Queso is on the law enforcement list.

Robin said...

I knew there was magic in the donuts!

Sorry about the contamination of a great word for your son. I was actually thinking of my kids and their friends. Somehow, cheese was frequently a part of their randomness as well.

Stealing a word we all love to use it for drugs -- not cool.

And I love that you are looking for skills they already have and teaching them how to use them for good (so to speak). Way to see benefits.