I love to listen to true crime podcasts and watch true crime shows. It isn't that I like to find out about crime but I like to know what the accused is going through and how they get treated and also what those around them are feeling. Once my dad retired from the USAF, he went to work for SCDOC as a correctional officer for a couple of years before he moved on to handle the inmates mail and their canteen. The thing about my dad was that he never judged. He was also very steadfast in his beliefs and nothing could sway him from that. NOTHING!
In the 80's when he started working at the correctional facility, the inmates would be allowed to practice certain trades. He would take his car and let them do certain mechanical work. I also remember a very beautiful picture of my nephew made with colored pencils. Once some of the guys got out he would offer them small tasks around our home to do also. There was one summer my cousins and myself were at home when my dad was on his way to work the second shift. He told us that someone was coming to do the carpet. We talked about what work was going to be done and he told us that he just got out of the correctional facility. We are like 13-15 year old girls and we are shocked and quite frankly appalled that he was leaving us at home with a criminal. We voiced out opinions and concerns and of course my dad listened and then told us to stop referring to the young man as an inmate. He told us that he didn't commit a violent crime and even if he did he has served his time and deserved to be given a chance in society. Welp!
That was a big lesson for me. I may not have thought so at the time but once I started to grow older and I made big mistakes, I knew my dad would never turn his back on me. I am like that guy apparently, well according to my mom. He was a stern, stubborn, set-in-his-ways, loving, caring, giving individual. I grew to realize that I too should give people a chance and not to judge. I am proud to say about myself that I am that person. Making mistakes is what makes a person human. You should not judge a person but if you have to make an educated choice of a person, you can not have one mistake be the sum of who that person is as a whole. One action can not equal a whole of anything.
I can only imagine how lonely and isolated a person may feel if this is the way they live their life because that is an extremely high pedestal they have placed themselves upon. One that is truly only attainable by someone that is free of faults. That would mean that no one could sit up there. I want to make myself clear on this issue. I do not believe that people should be let loose and not made to answer for the things they have done but that once they have atoned for their action that they then are not judged only pertaining to that act and then they are given the chance to prove themselves as reformed or apologetic or they have just learned their lesson. We owe it to ourselves and to others.
I am fortunate to have been raised by parents that were good people. I never asked if these lessons were intentional or unwittingly taught and it doesn't actually matter either way because I have a true love for people and I learned that from my parents and my extended family. Remember, we all have our ups and downs and none of us would want our low moments to be all that is seen. Be good to someone today!
Comments
Post a Comment