Jason | Ōtara
“My name’s Jason and I call home the Southside of Auckland. I’m from this lovely town we call Ōtara, beautiful place. It’s on the Southside of Auckland. I’m a steel fixer, I tie steel for a job.
I don’t know. Brave; that’s hard. It’s a hard one, because how do people know when they’ve been brave, you know? I think it takes someone else to tell you that you’re being brave. A person themselves wouldn’t know. It’s just normal, human nature, I guess.
I’ve just come out of court for being stupid. Not brave, that’s for sure. Wilful damage, a bit of road-rage. Got caught. Life’s normal, I guess. To other people, it might be like a struggle, but it is what it is. You just look to the positive things of life and just move on.
I don’t steal. I don’t see the point in stealing. You should just ask, there are places you can go for help, like WINZ and that. You don’t have to steal. I think that’s wrong, stealing.
I grew up in Auckland. I’m gang-affiliated. I roll with this gang called the Crips. I’ve got kids. I’ve got a son. He goes to a Māori school, so he speaks Māori.
It’s a life choice and I’ve chosen it. It’s not the smartest, but hey, it’s like what they say; you make a bed, you sleep in it. My son, he doesn’t see that side of my life. I try and keep that away. It’s hard too, but small steps to make bigger changes. Like they say; Rome wasn’t built in one day. I can do small steps to change, to do my best. Fuck, I’m not going back to that courthouse. I’ve been out of trouble for a very long time. It’s the first time I’ve been back to court in seven years.
What’s important to me? I think living comfortably. Farm life’s a good one I’ve been contemplating. Living on a farm, because you know, the price of living these days if you’ve got like a partner, both of you’s need to work, because if one person’s working, you’re only just paying off the rent. What are you going to eat? Oxygen burgers or wind chips? It’s a bit hard, but what people pick they should accept. So, if you’re going to choose the gang life, you’ve got to take the good and the bad. It’s not always flash cars, and money and women. There’s also jail.”
