Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 255

“I’m trying to go back to college. We took a class trip to the...

“I’m trying to go back to college. We took a class trip to the museum recently for my Italian history class. Everyone else in my class is 19 or 20. I felt a little weird.”

“I used to be the dean of a high school in the South Bronx. I...

“I used to be the dean of a high school in the South Bronx. I played in a recreational basketball league on the weekends, and some guys on my team decided to give me a shot at this job. I can’t say that I feel like I’m making as much of a difference. There was something very tangible about helping a kid go from an 80 to a 90 on a math test. But I think the change has been good for me. I was only making $36,000 a year back then. And I’ve been forced to grow and learn so much. Hopefully one day I can go back and teach them about the markets. Many kids in the inner city don’t realize how the stock market affects their lives. They think it’s some faraway thing, and don’t realize how it relates to the clothes they wear and the phones they use.”

“I got very lucky. I started working for a family firm right...

“I got very lucky. I started working for a family firm right out of high school. I was just doing clerical stuff in the back room at first. But whenever the boss’s kids didn’t show up for work, I’d raise my hand and say: ‘I can do that!’ So I started to be given more and more responsibility. I was one of the only women on the floor back then. The guys wanted to teach me as much as possible, because that meant they could take more breaks. I used to get teased but I didn’t care, because my older sister had been calling me an idiot my whole life. I thought: ‘Yell at me all you want, I’m going to use you for all the knowledge you have.’ Pretty soon, I was yelling right back at them.”

“My wife had four kids from a previous marriage. I had three....

“My wife had four kids from a previous marriage. I had three. When we first got married, we had seven kids between us under the age of nine. My wife is a better stepmom than I’m a stepdad, but I’m getting better. I’m learning when to keep my mouth shut. Even though I’m super protective of my wife, if one of her children has a disagreement with her, I need to step back a bit. Ultimately I just want everyone to ‘buy in’ to the idea that we’re all on the same team, and that we’re all pulling for each other. Whenever it’s someone’s birthday, we’ll send a group text to all the kids, inviting them to the birthday dinner. It’s such a great feeling to get eight or nine text messages back, saying: ‘I’m in.’”

“They make it tough for working mothers. I don’t know why they...

“They make it tough for working mothers. I don’t know why they have to schedule all of this stuff during the day. My first grader is playing a hammerhead shark in his class play—but it’s at 11 in the morning. They scheduled the Mother’s Day Tea on a Friday. But they put the Father’s Day Tea on a weekend, of course. The other day my first grader told me how lucky his friend was that his mom didn’t work and could come to everything. That one hurt a little.”

“My dad doesn’t want me to join the military because I’m his...

“My dad doesn’t want me to join the military because I’m his only son. But I’ve watched a lot of movies and cartoons and stuff about the military. It seems cool and I want to be a part of that.”

“I’m working on my stamina. I’m trying to walk over every...

“I’m working on my stamina. I’m trying to walk over every bridge in the city. I walked over six big bridges in the past two weeks, and a lot of smaller bridges too. I thought it would be a good way to become a better person and see a lot of bridges.”

“I always say that I’ve done a life sentence– in...

“I always say that I’ve done a life sentence– in installments. My behavior funneled me into the criminal justice system at the age of 17. I’ve done three state bids and numerous stints at Rikers. The cycle of recidivism is difficult to break. When you come out of prison, you have nothing: no home, no family, no money, and no job. The only thing you have is your social standing. And if your social standing in jail is perceived as higher than that on the outside, sometimes it’s preferable to go back. In prison, they called me ‘Pops.’ I got privileges. People respected me. I felt valued. When I got out, I had to start over.”

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Charles is a former client and current program leader at The Fortune Society. The Fortune Society’s mission is to “create a world where all who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated can become positive, contributing members of society.”

“I hope to be as selfless as my mother. My father died when I...

“I hope to be as selfless as my mother. My father died when I was seven months old. She had to raise five kids on her own while working as a nurse, but she made time for all of us. We used to have these days called ‘Mommy Holidays.’ She’d choose a normal school day, wake us up, have us get ready for school, cook breakfast in a hurry, and right before we walked out the door, she’d scream: ‘Mommy Holiday!’ And we’d all skip school and go somewhere fun.”

“I was too hard on my son because I couldn’t understand why he...

“I was too hard on my son because I couldn’t understand why he didn’t love to compete as much as I do.”