Oh New York!! It's a city with no secrets. No secrets because New Yorkers openly discuss their most intimate thoughts and experiences out loud for any and everyone to hear. There is no such thing as using an "inside voice." Growing up if I spoke at the volume of most New Yorkers some adult in my life would ask if I was raised in a barn or if I had a problem. I would then be met with a glance of annoyance. Ah, the teaching of home training. It's a lost art these days.
In my office building on one of the floors above mine, there is a call center of some sort. The employees are interesting and leave much to be desired in the area of basic decorum. Since I exit the elevators before them, I'm always privy to conversations I never want to be witness to or believe even exist. This morning I overheard one of those conversations.
As I approached the elevator I saw approximately 4 people from the call center (they are easily identifiable). Here is what was said by one of the women:
"They keep saying they only want people without a record on this new project. I'm like damn! What they want me to do? So I slapped the lady in the rent office and I got arrested for that and I got evicted. I went to court and everything. I got probation. So I slapped her and got evicted. Isn't the eviction payment enough? They tripping about this record stuff. I don't see what this even has to do with the project. They ain't got nothing to do with one another."
Her friends/co-workers nodded in agreement. Let me see how best I can say this: LIFE HAS CONSEQUENCES PEOPLE!!!! If I spend my paycheck and never pay bills, the consequence of that is I end up homeless and hungry. If I eat really recklessly and never exercise, I can expect to gain weight and have poor health. And turns out if I get violent with someone and get arrested, I will have a record. And because I have a record, I have to realize there will be some opportunities I can't take advantage of.
I do believe some people end up with records unnecessarily. I also believe that if you've done the time and repaid your debt to society then, you should be allowed a second chance to prove that you can be a productive law abiding citizen. I don't believe that a person should be condemned the rest of their life for a poor past decision (we've all made bad choices at some point). BUT, I do believe that those persons should realize that their poor choices (she didn't accidentally slap the woman) could result in some consequences that won't be pleasant. There will be things in life that you'll have to realize you blew your chance on. It sucks (not really) but it's life.
I think my biggest problem was that it didn't sound as though she thought anything was wrong with a grown woman slapping someone nor did she seem to be remorseful or take ownership of HER lapse in judgment. That she was annoyed that her employer wouldn't put her on a project that required a clean criminal record indicated to me that they have policies in place and she can't refute their policies. Plus, maybe her behavior on past projects didn't prove that she could be trusted with the level of responsibility that the new project would require.
Plain and simple, every action has a reaction. If you are tired of the reactions you are getting, change your actions. There are consequences (both positive and negative) to every thing we do.
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