Giving It Up - by Darrin Anderson

I was at a Gang Conference in Las Vegas and sitting next to an L. A. County Sheriff that had spent most of his career in East L.A. He was fascinated about what we do at PRIDE Industries with ex-offenders and employment. He asked if they really got jobs and if the program really worked.

I asked him if he enjoyed his job. I asked him if he enjoyed the people he worked with. I asked him if he enjoyed the brotherhood, being a part of a team. I asked him if he enjoyed the excitement and fun that comes a long with the job. I asked him if he made a decent wage and was able to support his family. I asked him if he enjoyed being good at what he does.

His reply to all of these questions was yes.

Then, I said, "What if I told you that what you were doing was wrong and you needed to quit your job and that I had an entry level, ten dollar an hour, no benefits job for you that was hard, dirty labor doing something that nobody else wants to do with a boss and team that probably will look down on you and treat you like an inferior, would you give it all up and take it?"

He answered, "No Way!"

I replied, "That is what we are up against. The same things that you enjoy about your job are the same things that they enjoy about their lifestyle. And we are asking them to give up everything they know and love and are good at, to live a life starting at the hard, dirty, degrading bottom. And with a lack of education, normal workplace social skills and checkered background, the road ahead for them is a very difficult one. But most of the people we work with are doing it."

What a great job I have. I am going to ride the merry-go-round until it stops. (And I am in the little tea cup spinning myself around in the opposite direction as fast as I can ... and I think I feel my lunch coming back!)