The Prodiga1 Son. 1991
One day the younger son came to his father. “I
want what is coming to me, Dad. It is time
for me to be on my own. I need to find myself.” So Dad gave him his inheritance.
The son wanted to get as far from home as
possible, so he went to a far country.
He had a great time. He explored
his sexuality in various encounters, both hetero- and homo-. He used pot, crack, and other substances in
order to explore other consciousnesses and forms of existence. He made lots of friends and spent his money
quickly.
When his money was gone, the country fell upon
hard economic times. He had no money
for rent, but a new government program for the homeless got him subsidized
housing. He signed up for food stamps,
some of which he was able to trade to support his drug habits. Some of his friends moved in with him. With their food stamps, they all got along
rather well. They also augmented their
income by trading in drugs on the street.
His girl friend prostituted herself.
He had a job feeding pigs for a while, but it
only paid minimum wage. “He didn't pay me a decent wage. Why should I work for the cheapskate?”
One day, not feeling well, he went to a free
clinic for tests. “You have the HIV
virus,” he was told. “It must have come
from a sexual encounter, or from an unclean needle.”
“What is wrong with this world?” he said. “Every
time a Republican is elected, everything gets screwed up.” The last time we saw him, he was
demonstrating for more government money to be spent on
AIDS research.
He never did go home.
