journal 5 by chas martin

The most meaningful chapter in Cisnero's book was Geraldo No Last Name. I had a life connection to this story. I used to work with a man named Nikki who worked at Chick-Fil-A with me. He always kind and joked around and called me gringo a lot. We would always tease each other but I never really knew much about him until one day we were talking after work. He opened up and let me know that he was illegal in this country and the only reason he got over was because the cartel made him come over. Now I know Geraldo in the story wasn't forced over but he was illegal and he wouldn't have come over into this country if it wasn't serious. I think that's the theme of this chapter is everyone has a backstory and you should respect it.

One of the biggest influences of my life was my first boss. He was a kind man and never treated me any less than a human being. There was only one thing wrong with him. He was a heroin addict. Sometimes you could see the itch in his eye. You could catch him staring into a corner of a room all day. One time he showed up high to work, collapsed right in front of me and another worker and got back up only a few seconds later. I'll never forget the look in his eyes, they were dark and empty. I promised myself that day that life will get tough but i'll never let it break me like it broke him. He's in jail now, last I heard was that he was driving under the influence of medical meth. I guess it's just sad to see how life can brake us down into nothing and he saw no way back up. He could have had a future to, he was a state placer in golf back when he was in high school and he had plenty of scholarships. It scares me to see someone like that brake down to because he was successful. If it can happen to him it can happen to anyone. That's why he always be apart of my story and always be an influence in any decision I make.