Friday, November 12, 2004

Random question du jour.

In "Blow", Johnny Depp's character, George, asks his mother if she got the money he sent her. And she replies, "The drug money? Yeah, I got it." And the thought occurred to me: How would you handle it if you knew your child was a drug dealer? What would you do? Would you be able to love them but disagree with their means of making a living, or would you want nothing to do with them? Would you turn your child in to the authorities? I like to think I'd love my son no matter what, although if he chose to do something illegal to support himself, I wouldn't approve of that and I'd tell him so. And as much as it would hurt me, I think I'd have to turn him in if I knew police were looking for him. But I sure hope I'm never in a position where that's a burden I have to carry.

3 comments:

Chris said...

If my son broke the law and was on the run I would help him cross the border to Canada or where ever he needed to go. I would place my hand on a bible and lie for him. I would cover his tracks and assist him in any way I knew, especially if all that was wrong was a drug offense.

Having said all that, I would also make sure that he understood the seriousness of the situation and dish out some pretty serious 'tough love' to him for getting in trouble in the first place. But no, I would not turn him into the police and would never bear witness against him.

Lisa @ The Plain-Spoken Pen said...

GH, I may say I'd turn him in, regardless of the pain. That's the former prosecutor talking. As his mama, I'd probably do whatever I could to help him get away, after giving him fourteen kinds of hell for doing something so stupid in the first place. I think that's one of those things where I can't be 100% sure what I'd do unless I were living it (kind of like the current state of my marriage, I didn't know how I'd handle it until I got here!). I just hope I never have to make that choice.

And for what it's worth, the mother in "Blow" turned her son in.

L.

Jay said...

I think I'd do whatever seemed to be best for him in the long term. That might mean turning him in, or it might not.

Jay