I was about 13 or 12. I went to the local taco shop to buy myself a burrito, from the 15 dollars I had just earned mowing a lawn and old man came in asking if they would trade his 2 whole purple lettuce for a fourth of a green one ( he had taken them from the fields) He wanted a salad…. he looked extremely poor and while he was making himself a salad with the lettuce, i approached him with a carne asada burrito and a large jamaica and a chocolate muffin and gave it to him.

He offered me a seat.. He told me all about his work on the atomic bomb. about half an hour later, he went to his rusty, beat up car, he pulled out a snickers and an old binder, brought it back, shared his snickers, and showed me blueprints, and a lot of math problems, and pictures of him and a bunch of engineers working on it. he also showed me pictures of his family. he told me “drugs will take everything away from you son. Remember me and never touch them, or you will lose everything too.” I gave him all my leftover money and thanked him.

I later saw his car at the local truck stop, where he slept, and since i used to volunteer at the local convalescent center, i got him housing there. I never touched a drug in my life.