Posted on 07/09/2002 12:48:48 AM PDT by Alan Chapman
Trever Palmer, 17, says he felt nervous and slightly heroic the night he picked up the phone, dialed 911 and informed the King County Sheriff's Office that his father was growing marijuana.
Minutes later, when Aaron Palmer, a Covington computer programmer, returned home from an evening of swimming laps at the local pool, deputies arrested him. They later found more than a dozen marijuana plants growing in a hidden room in the garage and booked the single father of three into the King County Jail on drug charges.
Two months later, as Trever Palmer prepares for his last year of high school, the 140-pound wrestler is still grappling with the consequences of his actions and talked about them in an interview yesterday.
Although police lauded him for doing the right thing, he says half his relatives are mad at him. He's "found out who my friends really are" while trying to avoid Kentwood High School classmates who scorned him, calling him "a weasel" and names much worse than that.
Palmer made the 911 call largely because of a lesson he learned in a Junior ROTC ethics course: "Stand up for what you believe in, don't follow the crowd and be your own person."
He still thinks he did the right thing.
"I felt like I was saving my sister and brother from this guy," he said. "You can only put up with so much."
But his family is torn apart, and his 15-year-old sister may not see the 911 call as such a brave act.
The night her father was taken away, "she really didn't speak much to me," Palmer said. "She was crying and trying to get her stuff together."
Today, she "just kind of avoids me," he said.
Palmer said his 7-year-old brother didn't know what was going on.
Palmer, who is spending part of the summer with his grandparents in Pennsylvania, plans to live with his best friend's family until he graduates and joins the Air Force. His sister and brother are staying with a cousin. Their mother, who is divorced from their father, is unemployed and "doesn't have room for them in her apartment," Palmer said.
Palmer's sister could not be reached last night, and Palmer's father did not return phone calls. Aaron Palmer, 38, was released on $5,000 bail shortly after his arrest and pleaded not guilty last week to a felony charge of drug manufacturing, the South County Journal reported. He faces up to five years in prison.
The boy said many of his relatives can't comprehend his motives for calling police.
"It sucks," Palmer said last night. "I was really hoping that they would understand. It's kind of like that hole in (me) that needs to be filled."
He has tried to explain himself to his father's parents, who "kind of understand, but they are upset."
When he called police, he said, he wasn't considering what would happen to his family. "I kind of figured that would fall into place."
What went through his mind?
"I thought: no guts, no glory," he said.
He thought marijuana growing was taking over his father's life. Instead of spending time doing things with the family, his father tended to his plants -- moving the pots around and watering. He said that on two occasions, people visited the house on account of the marijuana.
Living around drugs is "the part that no kid should have to go through, and I didn't want (my younger brother) to go through it."
There were other conflicts. He thought his father paid attention to his sister's accomplishments, while ignoring his own. And he thought his ROTC courses, which were based on Marine Corps leadership training, put him at odds with his ex-Army father "on different military perspectives."
The "stand-up" message from his ROTC course echoed in his head.
"That set it straight, why I should do it," Palmer said. "For one thing, it's illegal."
He said another factor was the emotions stirred by reading "The Red Badge of Courage" for an English class. He said he was impressed by how a character in the book, a soldier named Nick, discovered his own bravery.
"He stood up for what he believed in," Palmer said.
How do you know what he DIDN'T do? Maybe he did try and talk to dad and dad said, "This is my house, I'll do what I want." No one has any idea what this kid did or didn't do and for how long this has been going on.
I agree, I posted this on the other thread for the same topic, thought it might be appropriate to post it here too.
If he really felt so strongly about the issue, he could have confronted the father, or destroyed the plants, or contacted relatives...there were a host of options to resort to before calling in "THE MAN"
And to have done so, he would have had to deal with his father's wrath.
I have known some pot smokers, if you confront them about their habit, you are subject to their angry outburst, and possibly their display of violence.
Likewise, if you destroy their plants, you should find somewhere to hide, perferrably in the next state, but the next county may be far enough. Depending on how trustworthy a vehicle the drugged up deadbeat could afford.
Next idea is to get hold of relatives. Most of which will be in such a state of denial, you will get next to nil help from them.
Has anyone read where he didnt try to talk to his dad before calling "THE MAN"? Do we know for a "fact" that he didn't try that. Maybe he tried, and was told to 'Mind your own d@mn business'. Would be the natural druggy response.
I'm sure, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year were all condenced into one newspaper story. Lets face it.
I love the way some people will read a one page article and think they know the whole story.
Personally I don't know the complete story and neither does the journalist who wrote the article nor do you.
The kid had issues...... One of which was he was growing pot...... And?
That's all I'm saying. There is usually more to a story than what you read in a one page article.
Yep, I really am dense. I just don't accept the liberal dictatorship of the mind and spirit and the moral decay that it requires. You are so lucky to be so sophisticated!
If this father had the same respect for his family as the father in your story, his son would never have had to turn him in.
Thank you for the very inspirational story. Wish more druggies were as responsible as your friend.
Have a nice day.
No doubt, and since we don't have the whole story, we need to go on what we do have, namely the story provided. It is fairly telling.
I would not rat on a family member for anything short of child molestation or child murder or treason or some Ted Kazinski type terrorism.
Ratting on irresponsible "hippie" dad over growing dope was foolish. As foolish as dad growing dope around his kids.
Down here in the pot growing areas of TN ...a 17 year old boy is likely to be partners with dad in the family pot farm and sharing in the profits. Seriously. Pot Growers and Dog Fighting/Cock Fighting are "family enterprises" around these parts. Any snitching on these country clans over this stuff is dangerous.
Isn't it strange how some will scream the kid didn't respect his dad, but if the dad respected his kids and the fact he was their father, he wouldn't have ever put them in a position like this in the first place.
I agree with you on all but the "especially fathers" part.
I am a mother, and I believe it is as much my responsibility to educate and provide morals for my children as I would expect their father to.
I have primary custody and primary decision making responsibility for the children, but I do expect him to provide structure for the children when he is excersizing his parenting time.
Name them. Which people screamed that the kid didn't respect his dad?
Divorced because you turned him in for something? :-)
I do not condone what you did in your past, but I do congratulate you for taking responsibility for your life and giving up the distructive habit.
As for supporting you for having been a dealer, I do not. But I do support your view in this thread. And I admire your resolve to stop dealing.
I may have said that I will turn in my own children for drugs, and I will if I have to. But I hope to not have to, as I do speak with my daughter about the dangers of drugs, and my views on drug use and trafficking. She understands what is expected of her (just say NO), and that their are consequences to her actions if she doesn't do that.
I would rather turn my child in for drugs than to have them killed in a drug war. I guess TJ is more concerned about druggies (possibly) being raped by "big bubba" than about being killed in a drug deal gone bad.
I have called you no names. POST 221
Boy, have I got flak on my first post!!
She really took responsibility. She stopped dealing drugs because she didn't want to be punished. Like stopping stealing cars after you have sold them and spent the money. If she took responsibility she would have turned herself in and served her time. As to the habit, which one? The one of illegally selling drugs or the one of using them. She hasn't said she never used drugs again. It's an even bet she still uses on occasion. You have a warped sense of right and wrong.
As for supporting you for having been a dealer, I do not. But I do support your view in this thread. And I admire your resolve to stop dealing.
LOL, she resolved to stop dealing because she didn't like the "risk reward ratio". Her words.
I may have said that I will turn in my own children for drugs, and I will if I have to.
It isn't that you may have said it. You said it.
But I hope to not have to, as I do speak with my daughter about the dangers of drugs, and my views on drug use and trafficking. She understands what is expected of her (just say NO), and that their are consequences to her actions if she doesn't do that.
The consequences are that her mother will turn her into the thugs so that she may spend a few years of her young life incarcerated with killers and depraved individuals. Her mother sells her out for being young and dumb. Great mother. Puke
I would rather turn my child in for drugs than to have them killed in a drug war.
Maybe they will be killed in prison instead. It's easier to get drugs in prison than cigarettes. And I'm sure that she will walk the straight and narrow while she's in there, after finding out that her mother put her there. She would never recover and probably go straight downhill.
I guess TJ is more concerned about druggies (possibly) being raped by "big bubba" than about being killed in a drug deal gone bad.
I guess TJ is more concerned about your kids than you are. Seek mental help.
He is (and has been since December) engaged to be married. :-)
I mean you no ill will, and do not gain satisfaction in fighting with you.
Can we agree to disagree, and stop calling names?
In direct contrast,they just relaxed the MaryJane Laws in Britain too.What the heck does the comment "No Guts No Glory" have to do with anything?I believe there's a whole heck of a lot more nonsense that went on,than this boy is telling.
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