Sad follow up...

I used to live in an apartment in NE Portland with my then girlfriend around 2001. A Cuban guy lived in a unit upstairs. He was a good guy. He had a heavy accent which reminded me of Pacino's "Scarface," which I thought was cool.

He asked me to tutor him in english, because he needed to pass an exam to get into school to take a welding class. Once he passed the welding class, he could get a better job at Freighliner.

So I tutored him. It was a struggle, but he was doing pretty well. I lost contact with him after I moved out of the apartment after the girlfriend and I broke up.

About a year later, the ex and I were having lunch at a restaurant. The man I tutored walked up to our table and told me that my helping him got him into the class, he got the job, and he had just finished purchasing his first house.

I should have been beaming with joy as he attributed his newfound success to me and my Miracle-Worker type teaching achievement. I was actually thinking that it was kick-ass to have a guy say all of these nice things to me in front of my ex. I would take any opportunity to sound like a non-douchebag in front of her. I couldn't have planned the encounter any better than it was naturally unfolding.

So now, years later, I open up the newspaper and see the man, Juan's, picture under an unemployment story. He's running the risk of losing his house and his retraining classes may not complete in time to get him a job to save him from foreclosure. The story states that he has no savings.

Truth be told, the apartments at the time were probably $550 a month and he drove a brand new Honda S2000 which he traded in for a brand new Acura RSX. His lack of savings might be due to his expensive taste in cars. However, he's a good guy, a hard worker, and I wish him and anybody else in that situation the best.

Here's the story:

Oregonian: Oregon Unemployment Rate Hits 9%

Neighbor Juan