Member-only story
Opioids and Reputation
What does it take to be considered honest?
I don’t mean in the easy sense — your relatives and close friends carry your reputation in their day to day lives. I mean a reputation as an honest man or woman that is fungible, that travels where you do. Hear out my story as I ask what else could I have done in my life to convince total strangers of my honesty?
I started on a path of attempted public honesty when the government gave me a top secret-codeword clearance at the ripe age of 18, when I had been serving in the Air Force a little over a year. They did not pull my name out of a hat.
To get this position for which I had been “selected to volunteer” (ain’t military-speak something?), I had to fill out a form about my background the likes of which I would not see again until the Indian Bar managed to put me up for a federal court appointment. Lucky for me, I was young and had only lived in three places: Bristow, OK, Beaverton, OR, and Odessa, TX. In each place I had to list every address where I had lived, every job I had, and provide references.
Then the OSI (Office of Special Investigations) sent minions out to check my work. How do I know? From talking to my references.
In spite of turning against the war I had volunteered to fight, I still had my clearance when I got out…
