That’s What Second Chances Are All About

One of my childhood friends is now a parole officer. She’s one of the most proactive parole officers I’ve ever seen. She has a web of contacts in charge of hiring at various companies, and she will go out of her way to get the people whom she’s responsible for hired.

She first gets them through some sort of vocational testing to determine what sort of position to recommend them for. She will often give them rides to and from the interview, and she helps them get interview-appropriate clothing from local charities. She really goes above and beyond.

I happen to be in charge of hiring for a local branch of a large retail chain. Of the twelve criminals she’s brought to me over the years, I’ve hired eight of them, and all of those eight were among the best workers I’ve hired. Most of them eventually moved on to better jobs.

But, recently, one of them has been promoted to manage a newly opened branch. He invited my friend the parole officer to his promotion/going away party and thanked her profusely. He gifted her a PS5 that he had set aside to buy for her.

After he left for the new position in Tennessee, she quietly returned the PS5. She’s not into video games. Instead of returning it to stock, I donated it to a children’s charity. I think both of them would have approved.