Comments on Biking The States: Ryan: Lovely Luscious Lander, WY

Greg, I don't know who you are, but I want to get ...

2008-08-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Greg, I don't know who you are, but I want to get to know you. What you said is what these guys are searching for and trying to understand. thank you for your insight and I love Ryan so what you say to him you are saying to me. I'm Stuart's dad but I feel I'm connected to all of them.

Whoa... intense blog discussions! Either way I fou...

2008-08-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

Whoa... intense blog discussions! Either way I found the post interesting.

I didn't at all mean to imply that Ryan is ignoran...

2008-08-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't at all mean to imply that Ryan is ignorant or stupid, only that his post seems not to understand the severity of the girl's situation.

Positive and optimistic or not, one has to admit that it's extremely difficult to take hold of your destiny at that young age and when you have so many factors working against you. When the conditions of someone's life are analyzed in an abstract and fragmented fashion as in Ryan's post(e.g., no home and no money = independence and freedom; therefore, Afton can live however she wants...which is good) it often creates an unrealistic conception of reality. It conforms the world to a preexisting schema so that instead of learning from new and diverse experiences, he is only reinforcing preconceived notions.

I support Ryan and his positive, optimistic outlook. I would not, however, like to see that optimism blind him to the misfortunes of others. Believing in a just world may make us all feel better, but it does not necessarily encourage us to dedicate our time and resources to increase our understanding others, and to dedicate our time and resources to helping them.

Ryan can be an extremely positive person and still have a more complete and nuanced analysis of the things he sees on this trip and in his life, and I would encourage him to do so.

I want to clarify that I did not mean my post to be discouraging or insulting. I intended it to inform Ryan of certain factors he overlooked and that would perhaps make him see his experience in an entirely different light.

Keep up the good work, guys!

Greg, I agree with your assessment of this young g...

2008-08-04T14:28:00.000-07:00

Greg, I agree with your assessment of this young girl. It is very likely that, as a runaway from a group home, her life up to this point has been incredibly difficult and that she's a victim of institutionalized neglect.

However, to be perfectly fair, I don't believe that Ryan is ignorant of this fact or that he's romanticizing this girl's plight. Ryan is an incredibly positive and profoundly dedicated person. You only have to spend five minutes with him to learn this. By believing that each individual has the power to take control of their own situation and can choose to think positively about life rather than negatively, he is engendering a spirit of freedom which is meant to inspire and encourage.

Being a romantic and an idealist may seem stupid to some, but that does not by default make him stupid.

A group home is where minors end up after being ta...

2008-08-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

A group home is where minors end up after being taken away from their parents during abuse, neglect and abandonment proceedings. Most kids in these situations end up in foster homes, but the kids who go to group homes usually have some combination of severe behavioral problems, personality disorders, violent tendencies (against themselves and others), and drug problems that make them a risk to potential foster families. The worst of them are sociopaths.

Usually, these kids face expulsion from school, arrest, being confined to the group home, intensive psychological evaluations, legal difficulties, assignment to a Juvenile Probation and Parole Officer, etc. Running away from a group home is fairly common, but the kids are often tracked down and brought back.

The girl you ran into is probably a lot less free than you think she is, and realistically speaking, she's probably in for a very difficult life. If she remains homeless, she'll be vulnerable to all sorts of dangers on the streets (including the gang members in that park); if she gets a job and a home, she will have all the financial responsibilities and none of the privileges many of us have by virtue of our upbringing, education and lack of preexisting psychological problems. Many don't finish high school and, even if they do, they've had so many problems that their education has been fragmented. You can bet that very few, if any, get a college education. Their earning potential is low.

Many of these kids ended up where they are because they don't have a strong support system to get them through the stages in life that they don't have the maturity or life skills to get through on their own. They also have needs that they can't address on their own and that the state's resources often don't provide.

Before you form some romantic idea of what someone's life is like, you should probably find out what it is really like for that person and explore all the implications of it. There are several signs here that should have suggested to you that something fairly serious was going on--for example, the facts that she must have been under 18 years old and homeless, she said she was running away from the group home, someone was looking for her, etc. If I were you, I wouldn't imagine she's living some sort of beautiful, free Bohemian lifestyle that you can build up in your mind as a profound comparison to the average American middle-class lifestyle. The reality of her situation is quite different.

You are a sweetie pie. I miss you! How's your knee...

2008-08-03T00:50:00.000-07:00

You are a sweetie pie. I miss you! How's your knee?

Love your blogs. Keep em coming.

2008-08-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

Love your blogs. Keep em coming.