YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

  There was a friend of the family, the age of my oldest son, Wayde, who was as likable a young man as you'd ever hope to meet. Buddy, we'll call him, had a ready smile, was polite with a good sense of humor. I always enjoyed seeing him in our home when he came by to visit. 
 Problem was, he got involved with some Aholes that led him into the narcotics business, where he got arrested on a federal smuggling charge and sent to prison--straight to prison, do not pass Go.

 Buddy did his time without incident and we didn't see him again for a few years. Then, one day, I ran into him on the street. After a warm greeting--I still liked the guy and still do--I asked him what he'd been doing. "Captaining a yacht for a rich dude," he said.

  "Well," I said, joking, "I guess you were experienced in that line from the smuggling business."

 Buddy laughed. "Yeah, but that was a whole different thing," he said. "I didn't have a Captain's license, then."

  "So how'd you get it?" I asked.

 "When I was released from prison, as part of my parole, I had to complete some occupational classes--learn a trade. At the government's expense. And they, seeing I'd been a smuggler, decided I should get a Captain's license so, in case I went back into the business, I could do it right." He laughted. "Just kidding about the last. But I did wonder why they were training a smuggler to be better at his job."

 I was, too, considering the number of ex-cons that go right back into crime. How stupid could you get? What was next? Accounting for Embezzlers? Graphic Arts for Forgers? Auto Mechanics for Car Thieves?

 But, I was wrong. Buddy never returned to crime and still has a dream job as a Captain on a wealthy man's yacht. And has been doing it for many years.

 And he's still as likable as ever.