Wolfe's Den: Juveniles in a red Taurus

Jordan’s note: This was originally published in February 2017.

Before dawn on Sunday, Katie-Lady and I were driving somewhere between Tillamook and Newport with a young man in handcuffs and ankle shackles nestled in the back seat.

At 5 a.m. that morning, a phone call woke me up.

“Can you do a transport, please,” a friend of Katie-Lady and I asked.

An hour later, equipped with an “Everything Burrito” from Skyline Espresso, we began our early morning drive to Newport in the Tillamook County Juvenile Department’s 2000-something Ford Taurus – our Little Red Rocket – in what may be our final drive in the car.

Believe it or not, but Katie-Lady and I have a side job (technically many, many side jobs, [okay, since we’re talking about it, we’re pretty excellent event coordinators – you’ve been warned] but that’s a column for another day).

In October 2015, we told our friend (the Sunday-morning-call-friend) we were looking for odd-jobs (a search that also lead us joining what can only be described as a travelling circus) to transform Tillamook’s CarQuest into Advanced Auto Parts).

“I’ve got an odd job for you,” our friend said.

At that point, the Juvenile Department needed an extra driver to transport kids in trouble for a spectrum of reasons – from smoking weed and delinquency in school to doing meth and stealing cars.

Katie-Lady and I were trained on how to ‘cuff and shackle juveniles (a skill that will probably prove useful if and when we have kids) and were introduced to our transport wagon (complete with peeling red paint).

And then our hearts broke.

Through the dozens of times we’ve transported kids to various holding facilities prior to their hearings or placement in a different facility – we’ve met young people who have been set up to fail since birth and so far have done everything in their power to fulfill that destiny, along with kids from otherwise stable homes making unwise decisions for various reasons.

Often, Katie-Lady and I break the ice by asking if they went to Outdoor School as a sixth grader and it is exciting and sobering when they remember us and their week of camp. We talk about their high school outdoor school counselor (often we know them) and share memories.

We talk with the kids – not down to them. We try not to be an adult lecturing them about their decisions.

Discussions are steered about their dreams, hobbies and things they enjoy. I tell them how much I love Yellow Dog Espresso when we drive by the shop in Hebo, we recommend the kids to visit Portland and try Salt & Straw ice cream to give them something to look forward to (and you should try it too!), I poke fun at Lincoln City for being never-ending and we point out Yaquina Head Lighthouse when we’re on the outskirts of Newport.

During a particularly fateful transport, our little red rocket became possessed by a demon (or a vengeful spirit or perhaps it was an electrical malfunction).

While driving through the jungles of Cascade Head between Neskowin and Lincoln City in the dead of night, the locks in the car decided to unlock and lock themselves with lightning speed over and over and over again – accompanied by angry beeping noises every time.

The young man, whom we had transported a few times before, thought we were playing around with him.

Then the dome light began to strobe – we were driving a mobile lighthouse.

We survived and Katie-Lady and I took a cell phone video of the shenanigans and now the Juvenile Department is preparing to retire our little red rocket and replace it with a state of the art transit wagon. Our transport stories are about to become much less entertaining.

Even with a new vehicle, we will end our transports the same – by encouraging them to reach out to Katie-Lady and I if they need anything and reassure them we are rooting for them to succeed.

Young people, no matter their background, need positive role models in every facet of their life. If more of us were to get involved and engaged with the youth (and created more engaging opportunities for them), we could have a profound impact on Tillamook County’s next generation. Let’s find ways to get these kids involved in their communities and out of the back of the little red rocket.

A simple “hello” can lead to a million things.

Cheers,

Jordan Wolfe