The Old School Lunch

One of my year-round resolutions is to not let one or two or three impressions/exchanges forever dictate what I think about a person. I too easily write people off in my personal and work life (and by “write off” in work life I don’t mean I ignore them because that’d be crazy) and I think it’s one of those things that I’ve always needed to work on. I shouldn’t allow this or that offensive comment to be the full picture of who someone is because god knows i’ve probably said some offensive things to people in and out of work that I didn’t know was offensive.

I bring it up because on a recent work visit trip with a co-worker, we were having what was otherwise a very good first conversation and she brought up a sensitive topic that she believes others are very callous about. This topic was about those who are incarcerated and she talked about how a loved one of hers was in jail and that not all people in jail are scumbags of the earth. Later, we got to talking about my old job and while I was describing some of the asshole characters at our shelter, I used the words “we had a lot of addicts, rapists, DV abusers, jail guys” to which she responded with a “…”

Yea. The conversation pretty much stopped right there.

But in my somewhat-defense, it’s the truth! Guys there, most of them have been in jail recently…many of them got there after being released from jail with nowhere to go!

I probably should have explained right after I said it.