When I was a boy, my parents decided that they wanted to buy a house, so we ended up moving from Tracy, CA to Stockton, CA. A distance of no more than 40 miles or so.
Here's the thing you have to understand about Tracy: It was a town where nothing bad happened. We had an extraordinarily low crime rate. A fight at school was a huge shock, and I figured that's just the way things were.
Here's the thing you have to understand about Stockton: One block away from the bad part of town was about as good as you could get. It was a craphole. John Marshall Middle School was the kind of school that teachers and politicians have nightmares about.
My father took me out of JMMS after the first semester. I was homeschooled for a year and a half (until high school). By that time, we had moved to Reno, and I was going to Hug High School.
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"Let reason be your only sovereign." ~Wizard's Sixth Rule
I'm working my way up to Attending Crazy Taoist. For now, just call me Dr. Crazy Taoist.