I wish there was a way to make this work

In Thursday's edition of the P-G, there was this article about a former borough manager who had stolen money from Braddock, a financially strapped community just outside the city limits. This woman has been repaying her debt very little by little (in about 1.5 years' time, she has paid $30 out of the $170k) because she has had trouble finding suitable employment, thanks to her felony conviction. That dilemma was quite timely for me as just over a week ago I posted a blog about giving people (criminals) second chances. In that post, I wondered if someone had redeemed himself, should he get another chance? And I had questioned, mostly seriously, if someone could not go on to get a job after prison, then what was the point of getting out of prison.

But this woman's owing so much and paying so little was not what really struck a cord with me. Rather it was this sentence: "If she can't pay Braddock back in dollars, she should pay it in community service," Mr. Fetterman said.

Mayor John Fetterman has been a champion for Braddock, as far as I can tell from what I have read in the papers and have seen on the local news. He believes in the community and wants to make it better. And I applaud his idea. Prisons are overcrowded. And they are often dangerous, soul-crushing hellholes that cost taxpayers a lot of money. People who have not committed heinous crimes and who are not a danger to others probably should not be there. Plus if one is in prison, one cannot make restitution very easily. And in many cases, people who have to make restitution often can't or never do. So having those people help make the community better seems like a reasonable solution.

Unfortunately, if memory serves me correctly it apparently is something that is not easy to do. Two or three years ago, a similar proposal was brought up by the county council. At the time, I called my county councilman to let him know that having first-time DUI offenders (I believe that is who it was) picking up litter was a great idea, and he should do whatever he can to make this happen. But, alas, my councilman told me that there were cost issues that made this community service option a bit thorny. I don't remember exactly what he said, but I seem to recall it had something to do with needing people to oversee the trash gatherers, which would be an expense, and there was probably something about needing insurance on these people.

That is so unfortunate. In my world, you would trust these people to do the clean-up or some similar service because the threat of prison or an exorbitant fine should be a pretty good deterrent against not doing the work. But what do I know?

What I do know is I feel strongly enough about this issue to have sent a follow-up email to my councilman. I will have to see what, if anything, happens (or has happened already).

What do you think? Anyone with me? Good idea or bad? Does the cost (depending on what it is) outweigh the benefits? Sometime the optimist in me can't help thinking it will all just work out.

What a year 2021 has been (Day 7)

I have almost no words for what happened yesterday at the Capitol. Protesting is one thing (though I truly think it is and has been time to move on). But to storm the Capitol? A friend on Facebook said, quite simply, " Almost 20 years ago a group of people on an airplane sacrificed themselves to protect the Capitol. How far we have fallen!" Indeed. And, yes, it IS storming the Capitol. I have seen numerous videos of people knocking down barricades/fences, pushing police officers, and breaking windows and climbing through them. That is beyond protesting. And even if a protestor did not do those things, if they followed those seditionists past those barricades and into the building, they are just as guilty. I did not support the violent protests this summer that resulted in damages to businesses and public property (I was in full support of the actual protests). But I also acknowledged as a white person, I cannot truly put myself in the position of a black person who is angry a

Why do they stand up there and say that when they are just lying?

That extra-long title is courtesy of my nine-year-old and was something she uttered during "Say Yes to the Dress" on Friday evening. I watch very little reality TV, but I make an exception for this show because I like to look at the dresses. And sometimes, the stories are heart-warming. Typically at the end of the show, a snippet of a wedding is aired. In this particular show, a woman who was confined to a wheelchair was exchanging vows with her fiance. After the two of them finished, J made her comment. I asked her what she meant as I must have been on the computer while the TV was on, and she explained that because so many people just get divorced, why do they even say "as long as we both shall live"? That is tough one, kid. I tried with what I thought was a sound explanation: Most of the people who get married truly believe they will be together the rest of their lives, but sometimes it just doesn't work out. But if you don't think that you will be

Wearing my heart on my sleeve

Four years and two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post that contained the good-bye email I wrote to my coworkers on the occasion of my last day of work. I was pretty proud of that note, which was quite hard to write as it reflected almost 13 years of being with one company, which is pretty rare in this century. I reread that note this morning to remind myself of what I had said, as that time feels like a lifetime ago. One sentence struck me: I am not sure where I will go from here or what I will do (although I fear cooking will be part of my immediate future), but I like to think onward and upward. I really had no idea what it was I was going to do or how long I would be without steady employment. Never did I suspect I would more or less be a SAHM who subbed and freelanced on occasion (sometimes the subbing and freelancing were often; other times I could go weeks without working). But here I am, just over four years later, getting ready to head back to steady employment.

Facie’s Ramblings

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