What is meeting your potential? Being all that you can possibly be? Who other than the Army in their old commercials does that? It is very unlikely that everyone who has all the snappers and meets all the criteria will turn out to be a doctor, a professional athlete, or an astronaut. Please notice, I did not say lawyer. Sorry John. Sorry Jason. There is more than hard work involved. Luck and money are two huge factors.
Teachers have cornered the market on the phrase, "I do
not think your child is meeting their potential." Hypocrites!
All of them! Did they meet their potential? Could they
have possibly been more? Who determines what potential
is? Is it a dollars driven concept? If money is not involved,
is it driven by your impact on the world? Why can it not be
the profound happiness we bring to our own surroundings?
Our children, our family? What a downer to spend your
life thinking things like: If only I would have practiced
more; If only I had studied harder; If only I had worked
harder. Look, there are only so many people named Pete
Rose, Jackie Robinson, Lance Armstrong, and Larry Bird
out there. The rest of you need to be happy with what you
have accomplished and get over it.
What does it mean to have exceeded your potential
beyond what you should have? How is that possible? Are we
talking about when you accomplish things that you should
not have been able to accomplish? Are we confusing the
term potential with expectation? Is it just semantics, or
glorifi cation of an accomplishment to make yourself sound
like you have done more with less? Only Marines can do
that.
What sort of potential does an inmate have once they are
released? Is it entirely up to them? Will they be subjected
to the new expectations that our society has for ex-cons?
Will they be given the full opportunity of a second chance?
When do they really stop doing time?
About the book
People Would Buy Tickets is my fi rst attempt at creating
fi ction. Do not be misled into thinking I am getting
tremendously creative here. Realistic fi ction becomes
fi ction only because I have changed the names of people
and the titles of the places where it was necessary. I am
still telling stories that really happened, only embellishing
where I lack details or think it would be more interesting.
The part of this book that is really fi ctional and dreamt up
is in the descriptions and actions of the main characters, but
I am still using stories from, and characteristics of, people
I have known personally. That said, Heck and Count are
wholly fi ctional characters, and are not meant to symbolize
or represent anybody.
When I began this project, the title of the book was,
Count Is Clear. After careful consideration, that title works
only if you are familiar with correctional jargon. I had
intended some word play with the term count, and a main
character, Count, but it does not work if you are not already
familiar with the term as it applies to corrections, and the
character. The title that I decided on, People Would Buy
Tickets, comes from a co-worker, who does not want his
name mentioned here. He said these words in the form
of a statement almost daily due to the hilarity of inmate
interaction.
Many of you know my previous work, and realize that I
was simply writing about things that really happened. There
is not much writing talent in regurgitating, just a skill for
translating real life to paper. The book you are about to read
(that is right, you can not put it down now) has portions of
fi ction and vast portions of truth, so I am not trying to get
completely out of my comfort zone. The primary characters
are all fi ctional, as is much of their background, but the
inter-woven humorous short stories are mostly factual, if
only slightly embellished events related to me by co-workers
and my own experiences while working in the corrections
fi eld.
Real places in this book, such as Lincoln, Tecumseh,
Surprise, and York, Nebraska; and Chillicothe, and St.
Joseph, Missouri, I have taken the liberty of changing them
however it suited my fi ction. Some places, such as Burriell
and Greenville, are as fi ctional as Metropolis and Wisteria
Lane (The Teri Hatcher connection there was purely
coincidental, unless I have some underlying infatuation with
the woman.).
I have attempted many things here, and I am hoping I
will not confuse readers or myself. In addition to the plot
development, sporadically inserted amongst the short stories,
is a dream journal. The entries belong to Charlie 'Count'
Mount, a primary character, and should shed some light on
why he is the way he is. In addition to the journaling, there
are some bits of scripture. On the surface, the scripture
readings may appear out of place. Perhaps they are. The intention of adding scripture amongst specifi c challenges in
a few of the main characters' ordeals is to reveal that they are
not completely happy with their lives and their subsequent
lack of direction. If it does not work, it will not hurt you to
read scripture anyway.
It donned on me while editing this book for the 134th time
that, as you read, there may be some character confusion
between the two main characters, Heck and Count. If I
had not written this, you might have wondered if that was
intentional. I wish I was that good. Just read it and wonder.
If you can not fi gure out who is speaking, imagine I did
that intentionally to make you wonder if Heck and Count
have so much in common regarding their struggles with
their personal honor and integrity that it could be either
of them. That might make for a strange twist in the plot,
while simultaneously making me look very talented. I have
changed my mind. It was intentional.
The stuff that sounds believable is probably invented in
my own head, and the stuff that makes you wonder, "How
the heck did this nutty individual dream this stuff up?" is
probably not creative at all, but lived experience.
Oh, if my fi ctional characters use phrases like;
"That dog won't hunt."
"She's as cute as a speckled pup."
"She's as handy as a pocket on a shirt."
"I'm going to put some verbs in my sentences." or, "That raises the price of poker." They have collectively
been watching too much Dr. Phil at 4:00 p.m., CST on
Channel 8, KLKN, Lincoln's own.