Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 363

"If I feel like there’s a chance of losing someone,...

"If I feel like there’s a chance of losing someone, I’ll always try to be the one that backs out first."

"If it wasn’t for this job, I’d still be on heroin....

"If it wasn’t for this job, I’d still be on heroin. A few years ago, one of my bosses came to me, and he said: ‘You’re approaching a crossroads in life, and pretty soon there will be no turning back.’ Then he told me: ‘Go to rehab right now. And your job waiting for you when you get back.’"
"What was the boss’s name?"
"Robert DelPrete."

"I’m the manager of my 14 year old son’s heavy metal...

"I’m the manager of my 14 year old son’s heavy metal band. I pay for everything and handle promotion. Work is stressful, so it’s my release. I’m always checking my phone to see if there are any new likes or wall postings on their Facebook page."

"Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?""When I got...

"Do you remember the saddest moment of your life?"
"When I got locked up, for dealing drugs. Actually— I take that back. The saddest moment was when I took my five year old daughter to the doctor and found out she needed glasses. She put on those glasses, and she said: ‘Daddy! Daddy! I can see! I can see!’ Tears just started streaming down my face. What a fucking idiot I’d been. We’d take drives to the Catskills, and we’d point out deer to her, and she’d never seem to see them. She’d always say ‘Where!? Where!?’ It should have been obvious. I spent five years trying to give her everything I could, and I messed up the most important thing.’"

"People have been waving at me lately. I think my daughter may...

"People have been waving at me lately. I think my daughter may have put my picture on The Facebook."

"I was an English teacher. The demands of the system required...

"I was an English teacher. The demands of the system required that I give out grades, but I never felt good about it. How do you grade someone’s writing? Writing is about revision. It’s about access to self. If a student writes a poem, and it’s the best they can do at the moment, how are you supposed to compare that to the student sitting next to them? How are you supposed to give one a 90, and one an 85?"

"I don’t want to be the mom that my mom was. I have to be...

"I don’t want to be the mom that my mom was. I have to be very present all the time, and very watchful of any patterns I might be repeating."
"What pattern are you most fearful of repeating?"
"Shutting him down all the time. Not letting him have a voice."

"My goal is to run the 400m for the Dominican National Track...

"My goal is to run the 400m for the Dominican National Track Team."
"How close are you?"
"I’m about two seconds away. But the last two seconds took me four years."

"I’ve always been a listener, which can make it really...

"I’ve always been a listener, which can make it really hard to feel included. Whenever I’m working in a group, it seems like the outspoken people are always the ones who get acknowledged. Even if I do more work."

"I work for a nonprofit as an immigration lawyer. I mainly focus...

"I work for a nonprofit as an immigration lawyer. I mainly focus on helping victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. There is no better feeling than helping someone get their visa. When you’re illegal, you’re forced by necessity to be invisible, and that really affects your self-esteem on a deep level. It’s a constant sense of not having permission to exist. And it’s very satisfying for me to free people from that. I realize, that on a policy level, immigration issues are very complex. But for me, on a one-on-one level, it never feels complex."