caughtinprovidence

One of the craziest excuses I ever heard was from a man who received a speeding ticket, and he said he didn't realize how hard he was pushing on the gas pedal because he'd just bought a new pair of shoes that were tight.

An aggressive panhandler appeared before me more than 20 times, and I told him that if he continued I would have no choice but to send him to jail. I did not see him for one year thereafter. One day, I encountered him on a downtown street and he came running up to me, thanking me profusely for changing his life. Happily, I asked him how I changed his life and he replied: "I now take the train to Boston and panhandle outside of South Station and make 3 times more than as I was making in Providence."

As a young boy I was told that we all had equal opportunity in the United States, and that through hard work and perseverance, we can be anything even President. I did get involved in politics, and in my early 20's was elected into the Providence City Council. Thereafter, I ran for the Mayor of Providence and was defeated. So, I guess my aspirations to be President were some what unrealistic.

I am a big cheerleader for Rhode Island, and I am delighted with any favorable publicity for our great state. I think we have an extraordinary quality of life here. and we should all be very grateful.

Thank you for your questions!

1) There are too many to list.

2) I had one young lady indicate that she wants to be a judge, and I explained to her that she had to become an attorney first. Other than that, one instance, surprisingly I have not had more children respond as favorable to the law. However, I hope that I have inspired some younger people to enter the legal profession. I don't think I was as persuasive as my father was.

3) My dad was an immigrant from Italy, who came here as a fruit peddler, and like so many others had a hope and a vision that life would be substantially better for his children than it was for him. He told me at an early age, around 7, that I was such a fast talker that I had to be a lawyer and that I could not charge poor people like us. He also told me he couldn't afford to send me to college, but that I had no choice but to find a way to go. I never forgot that, and I never aspired to be anything else in life other than an attorney because of my father's influence. I worked three jobs to put myself through college. After college, I could not afford to go to law school so I taught school in Providence, and drove the 15 miles to Boston to attend law school in the evenings at Suffolk University. To this day, I have never charged poor people.