So I answer the bell, and it's a young black dude -- sez his name is Marcus and he's 19 -- and he's in a program that teaches kids with little education and social skills how to fit into society: introduce themselves by name, look people in the eye, speak politely. And so on and so on. Win points for admission to Forsyth Tech (like, they have a point system now for admission to the county tech?) I get him to cut to the chase because my dinner's getting cold, and he's selling magazine subscriptions... but will accept donations instead. All for program "points".

OK, so, no question, the organization he's working for is a subscription scam, and I oughta piss on all the principals. But this young kid is possibly actually getting something useful out of all this. Or is it just easy money for lazy kids?

I asked for a business card; he said he just handed out his last one. I told him to drop one in my mailbox tomorrow, and then not to hesitate to come back a day or two later, after I had a chance to check out his organization.

Truly, I know the organization's gotta be a buncha sleazeballs, but I am also willing to help a kid who is out there trying to learn to help himself.

Anybody got any good generalized knowlege about this kind of organiation? Do yer local gubmint doobies and cops tell you to have nothing to do with them? Or what?

-Richard, His Kanubic Travesty
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Richard Hopley                                  Winston-Salem, NC, USA
      Nothing really matters except Boats, Sex, and Rock'n'Roll
                     rhopley[at]earthlink[dot]net
  OK, OK; computer programming for scientific research also matters
                      rhopley[at]wfubmc[dot]edu
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