Shanghaied into Straight, Inc.

One of the worst days of my life was November 6th, 1982. I had spent a few weeks in bed with the flu after returning home after running away. By the time that fateful Saturday rolled around, I was starting to feel better again. My parents told me they wanted to take me to Virginia where there were some people I could talk to about getting my life back on track, or something to that effect. It didn’t sound so bad, but I had absolutely no idea what was in store for me. Little did I know that from that day forward my life would never be the same.

My trust in my parents was destroyed that day when I realized that they had abandoned me into the hands of the people at Straight Incorporated. I found myself in a room with two kids about my age sitting in chairs in front of the only door to the small, bare, windowless room. They asked me all kinds of questions. What drugs had I used? How long did I use them? How many of my friends drank or used drugs? Did I have premarital sex? I did my best to answer their intrusive questions. For what it was worth (not much to them), my drug use had tapered off considerably. Granted, I had run away from home after dropping out of the 10th grade, but I hadn’t been getting high or even drinking regularly at this point. They told me my parents didn’t want me back, and that if I didn’t sign myself in for two weeks, they would get me court ordered there for two years! Not knowing any better, I signed myself in and was led into the “group room” by someone behind me holding onto my belt loop.