I am really conflicted with writing this topic today, I can do both sides of it. But I have to pick one. So I'm picking to save them. The "them" I am talking about is the homeless, the criminals, the alcoholic wife who doesn't give two craps about her family, or the abusive father that beats his child.
Why am I choosing to save them? Well with how I started off, I believe everyone deserves a second chance. The homeless, may not be homeless because of something they personally have done to themselves. Maybe they are homeless because society has been really hard on them, they've lost their jobs, their house, their families, who knows. We don't, and that makes us guilty. Do we not care about the lost people in our own backyards? Yes I am also guilty of not giving spare change to them, because let's face it, I live in a world that sad to say it, judges people. I don't know that they wouldn't take my few bucks, along with yours along with your neighbours few extra dollars, and go buy a bottle of booze or smokes or whatever turns their crank. Sometimes the homeless are just down on their luck, they have a job, but don't make enough money to afford a car, a home, gas, insurance, power etc. Don't they deserve a second chance? If it was you in their position, you'd answer "Well of course they do" So why is it okay if it was you to ask for a second chance, but someone you've never met? Automatically they are scum and should be shipped away.
Criminals - This is the one I have a hard time with. Truly have a hard time writing. But again, I still choose to save them. Criminals in my opinion, could be in the same position as the homeless, depending on the type of crime. But seriously, if a man or woman steals bread from the store to feed their family, do I think it's a crime? Yes. Stealing is a crime. But I understand why they did it. I guess that's what a second chance is all about. Understanding and compassion. However, the rapist, the murderers out there. They cannot be forgiven for the sins they have done, but retribution is a wonderful thing. We send them to jail in hopes that spending time in prison will actually do something. Not change their minds about what they did, it's too late for that. But maybe for them to understand it. They have to live with what they did to their victim too. It doesn't excuse what they did, but maybe just maybe, sitting alone in a jail cell for 25+ years, makes them aware that what they do, every little thing they do, has an effect on the rest of us. Sadly to say, most criminals get released, and end up back in jail. Why is that? Is it because they only feel safe locked up behind bars? Is it they feel they themselves do not deserve the second chance? Or are they just that sick, that they don't care about how their actions leave a mark on others lives around them.
Sorry to be long winded, but I'm almost done. So that takes us to the drunk mom and the abusive dad. Thankfully I grew up in a household that had neither. I cannot imagine what it would be like though to grow up like that. But those people, deserve a second chance too. They deserved to be saved, for the sake of their children, their parents, and the rest of their family. I am guilty of holding emotions in for the most part, but to drown my sorrows in a bottle of booze, I cannot do. To wake up at 8 am and have a drink... and another and another, so I'm wasted by 11am. Again I cannot do, I can't even imagine it. But some people, that's how they cope. So why are they different than me? I deserve a second chance because maybe I didn't make the best judgement call that day, and screwed up and made a choice I shouldn't have made. To the abusive dad... Well your story could be different all together. Is your life really that bad that you need to take it out on your poor defenceless child? Seriously? Never in a million years can I seem to understand this one. Is it because they were beaten, that they beat their child? They could fight that urge, but they don't. They choose to do it. In order to hurt someone else, I truly believe it's a choice. It might be an accident if you hit them out of frustration, spite etc. But, honestly, it's still a choice. Are they that hurt inside that they simply don't know how to cope with the pain and need to get it out? Great, go into boxing anything to get your aggression out. Do not beat your child, your wife and the man down the street because he looked at you funny.
Society in general wants to pile these people on the "dead beat" bus and take them away. Sure the world would probably be safer if they did that, but wouldn't we lose a lot more? Compassion is an amazing tool, sometimes that's all these people are looking for. A reason to be good. They I'm sure do not want to live their lives like this, but they feel they do not deserve a second chance. They feel they shouldn't be saved, because there is probably nothing left to save.
I don't feel that way. The next time you walk by someone who is homeless, stop to think. What if that was you? What if you had nothing to show for yourself, no house to live in, and just the clothes on your back. Wouldn't you like a second chance? If you made one wrong judgement in your life, and it ruined it, don't you think that's a big enough price to pay?
We as humans, can be funny. We are right there to judge, but never to lend a helping hand. Okay, let me rephrase that... We lend a helping hand in times of emergency, extreme situations. We generally, don't walk up to someone we don't know and ask to hear their story. Maybe they do deserve a second chance, maybe they blew their second chance. Moral of the story, how do you know if someone is worth saving if you never ask. Everyone deserves to be saved, one soul at a time.
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