I met a gentleman at the Benched Players bench this afternoon who was a copper miner for his criminal enterprise before he got busted on a 'minor' (3 months in country jail) drug offense.
Julio wasn't the first copper miner I've met at my homeless veterans shelter. D.J. was a copper miner, too.
In jail, Julio got saved, turned his life over to the Lord, and grew a conscience. This vets' dorm is an interesting place for a guy to try to nurture a growing a conscience.
As a copper miner, Julio stole about $10,000 worth of copper (not at retail valuation, more like pawn shop prices) a month. He stole ten grand a month for years and lost everything over a minor drug bust.
Julio mostly used to steal from Edison construction yards, him and his work crew. At three in the morning he'd crack the construction gate, drive in, find Edison uniforms to put on (including hardhat---must be safe while you're stealing), hot wire a forklift (easy peasy cheddar cheesy) and load up his trucks with tons of copper while police patrol cars whizzed by.
Julio told me he liked to hit Edison sites because Edison factors theft into it's budget as a normal operating expense and doesn't bother much with trying to track down their copper. Julio was telling me all about his copper mining days, his urban copper miner days, with a certain amount of workman's pride in his voice.
Even though Julio is a Christian now, he still looks back on his mining days with a certain amount of pride. He was good at it. He was professional. He had a good Protestant Work Ethic and a good Protestant Theft Ethic.
Now here he is, sitting on the Benched Players bench with the rest of us moral reprobates who have had midlife conscience-growing experiences, talking about the good old days when we were IN THE GAME.
Julio wasn't the first copper miner I've met at my homeless veterans shelter. D.J. was a copper miner, too.
In jail, Julio got saved, turned his life over to the Lord, and grew a conscience. This vets' dorm is an interesting place for a guy to try to nurture a growing a conscience.
As a copper miner, Julio stole about $10,000 worth of copper (not at retail valuation, more like pawn shop prices) a month. He stole ten grand a month for years and lost everything over a minor drug bust.
Julio mostly used to steal from Edison construction yards, him and his work crew. At three in the morning he'd crack the construction gate, drive in, find Edison uniforms to put on (including hardhat---must be safe while you're stealing), hot wire a forklift (easy peasy cheddar cheesy) and load up his trucks with tons of copper while police patrol cars whizzed by.
Julio told me he liked to hit Edison sites because Edison factors theft into it's budget as a normal operating expense and doesn't bother much with trying to track down their copper. Julio was telling me all about his copper mining days, his urban copper miner days, with a certain amount of workman's pride in his voice.
Even though Julio is a Christian now, he still looks back on his mining days with a certain amount of pride. He was good at it. He was professional. He had a good Protestant Work Ethic and a good Protestant Theft Ethic.
Now here he is, sitting on the Benched Players bench with the rest of us moral reprobates who have had midlife conscience-growing experiences, talking about the good old days when we were IN THE GAME.
Tags: Department of Veteran Affairs, veterans shelter, homeless shelter, homeless veterans, homeless, U.S. Vets, L.A. Vets, transitional living facility, copper miner, copper mining, criminal enterprise, county jail, saved, turned his life over to the Lord, grew a conscience, growing conscience, pawn shop copper, Edison, write off, cost of doing business, hotwire a forklift, workman's pride, Christian, Protestant work ethic, Benched Players, moral reprobates, jarvis, marquisdejolie
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