Real Front Office material there.
The mark of our society as civilized will come when we embrace confidence in the power of redemption.
Gregory J. Boyle, a Jesuit priest, is executive director and founder of Homeboy Industries. He is the author of "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion."
Another liberal priest wanting to lay a guilt trip on employers for not hiring gang-bangers covered in tats, full of attitude and still hanging out in "clubs".
How many times should society turn the other cheek and forgive sociopaths? And put them in the front of the line, ahead of those who chose to work hard, take advantage of the educational opportunities offered and lead honest lives.
They should be out there talking to young people on the streets instead of Boeing or other employers, who rightfully seek clean employees rather than "former" bangers looking for social justice with an attitude and history of violence.
*shrug* I’ve hired former felons. The key word being former.
Maybe if he had TOLD his employer about his past instead of the employer “discovering” those facts, this would have had a different outcome. If I were to learn that my employee had effectively lied to me, I would have to assume that individual would be deceptive on the job.
With our economy/job market being the way it is, if you were a former gang member, or anything of the like, your ARE screwed when it comes to getting a desirable job. There’s no shortage of good experienced people looking for work. Someone with a criminal record won’t have a chance when competing with such people, and for an increasingly limited numbers of positions. Hope and change isn’t gonna do them a damn bit of good!
I’ve hired many reformed addicts and felons. Did everyone work out? No but some became my best employees. You don’t know Lorenzo and I doubt you know yourself.
Gee, maybe he should have thought about that before deciding to become a gang-banger.
Real Front Office material there.
These former gang bangers could find some real work by getting away from the inner cities. Loggers, farmers, ranchers, mills, and other hard working jobs are crying for help. I guess the clubs and the continued association with gang life are too much of a draw for them.
Unfortunately, this guy's story confirms that -- in a bad way.
When I was in middle school I had one visit from a group of narcotics detectives from the local police department. Back then, this was the extent of the police department's anti-drug effort in schools. It was one of the most effective presentations I've ever seen. The lieutenant of the narcotics squad held up a couple of small plastic bags -- one filled with white powder and the other with brown powder. He asked if we knew what these were. One kid raised his hand dutifully and said he thought the white powder was cocaine. A couple of other kids guessed at what was in the second bag, and one finally said: "Heroin."
"No, this isn't cocaine and heroin, kids," the detective said, dangling the little bags in the air in front of the class (almost playfully), "this is John Belushi right here, and you're never going to see him alive again because this is all he was."
This was just several weeks after Belushi had died of a drug overdose.
Wow.
“You’re one of our best workers, but we have to let you go.”
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Guess you don’t believe in redemption and giving people a chance to put right their mistakes and move on then? I know some scumbags, maybe even most, will stay scumbags their whole lives, but people who do put the effort in to change deserve to the chance to put their past behind them, if they haven’t committed a crime that warrants a life sentence or the death penalty, in which case it should be up to God in the next life to redeem them...
Having a rap sheet and wanting to turn your life around is a noble idea. I believe in second chances in life, but expecting that you’ll be able to retain a secure, good-paying position when you have a laundry list of felonious arrests and incarcerations, is like expecting to purchase a home or get a loan after declaring bankruptcy. After a sordid past, a person must proove themselves, little by little. They must truly work themselves up from the mailroom, or from sweeping floors. Those are the consequences for making bad choices in life.
“Then, with a desperate sadness, the young man added: “Damn, G. No one told me I’d be getting a life sentence of no work.””
That’s what your daddy should have been telling you. Was there a daddy?
I actually do sort of cry a river over young men like this. Their futures are bleak.
They are the product, generally, of a very weak to nonexistent family structure.
They were told by the gang that they would be “gangstas” for life. They got what they bargained for. Let them turn their life around by turning their “homies” around. They can open their own businesses and work for their own kind. I have no use for them in my world.
What a load of liberal bovine excrement.
Looking beyond a person's past doesn't mean it is prudent to disregard their personal history, both good and bad.
If you are in a position to hire employees for a large company or a small enterprise, just ask yourself one question before making that final decision.
"If I was hiring someone to work for me, someone I could trust working with my own family at my own small, struggling business, someone to trust with my own products, money, reputation, and chance to succeed, would I hire this person?"
Oh, I almost forgot. This is "Obama's America" and "Holder's People"...
Self sufficiency? American ingenuity? Self reliance?
"Homey don' play dat..."
That being said, the guy can start a net-based business or something. That is, if the regime wouldn't instantly put him on the "destroy" list for escaping the democrat plantation.
No need to cry you a river. If a person that wants to work finds no job, eventually he will do what it takes to survive. A former felon already knows what to do.
So once they get out they need to be re-integrated or else...
So, if this had become law, a bank could have been forced to hire a teller who was a convicted felon that is behind on all his bills and being chased by creditors. (no incentive to steal there...)
“”Damn, G. No one told me I’d be getting a life sentence of no work.””
Maybe he should have asked the parents of some kid he sold drugs to, stabbed, stole from.
How many life sentences did this scumbag hand out with his actions? Sometimes, getting kicked in the teeth is what you deserve.
“...... he was let go from a job because his employer had discovered he’d done five years in prison”
I wonder if serving five years in prison might be something a person would tell a prospective employer. duh...
If he spent a third of his life in prison, it says something about his lack of character. Does some counseling really change things or, if things get a little tough, does he steal from the company? I’d rather hire a kid who went to a Jewish or Catholic school who has never been in trouble and who has parents who taught him values.