Houston Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Poll 2: Panhandlers
This morning I saw a man panhandling on a corner with a sign that said something along the lines of "Just out of prison, trying to get on my feet, anything helps, god bless"
Just so you can picture it, he was a white guy, youngish, nice looking, clean and had on decent clothes and shoes (but then they give you a set of clothing when you get out of the joint don't they?) but with a lot of prisony looking tats. If he hadn't been holding a sign I probably would not have assumed he was a panhandler.
My big boy is bounding towards 3! Hoping to add a sibling.
Hipster dog is not impressed.
Hipster dog is not impressed.
Re: Poll 2: Panhandlers
the way you describe him....makes me totally think it was my brother! in which case, i wouldn't. but a stranger, probably. i'm heartless.
YOu're not heartless. My sister has been just lucky enough to avoid prison herself. So far. I don't give her money. I don't even send her things for her kids any more. I send stuff to my aunt and hope ti gets to the kids that way.
Starting over after prison is very difficult, my sister has struggled with it for the last few years. She couldn't find anyone who would hire her for ages...but eventually, someone finally took a chance on her.
If I had a few extra $ on me, I'd totally hand it over and hoped that he'd be able to do something good with it.
This was my initial thought, then 2 seconds later I thought "hmmmm I wonder what he was in for? Is he violent? Crazy? Skin head? Druggie? Rapist?"
Since I had such a split reaction to him I wondered if overall the sign was helping or hurting his cause. Hence the poll.
I didn't have anything to give him anyway so it was moot.
A split reaction is totally how I felt.
My husband, a bootstrapper mentality all the way, has shared his sympathy for ex-cons because it is SO hard to get a job once you have a record, even if you were a total idiot and would never do it again. He has said many times if he wins the lotto he will start a staffing agency specifically for ex-cons and employers who are willing to take a chance on them once they have proven themselves. He said you will always have a few that are idiots and repeat offenders, but his company would offer intense training on what changes they need to make in personal appearance, diction, etc. to present a polished image to get people to give them a try. Some of it might even include remedial education.
Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband and his big ole heart?
- Paula Deen to 104.1 KRBE's Producer Eric 9/17/2011
My SIL was in and out of jail for YEARS (drugs... theft for drug money,etc) and finally did enough to get sent to prison for 4 years. She (voluntarily) participated in a prison-based rehab program and when she was released, worked via Goodwill Industries to get herself re-established.
She didn't do anything fancy, she swallowed every bit of pride she ever had and worked long, super early hours as a manual laborer for a landscaping company in a no-excuses environment.
She went back and mentored other women in the prison rehab program. She became a success story and spokesperson for Goodwill. She is currently working for the state as a peer support counselor (to help others out of similiar situations) and getting her college degree.
I'd rather hand her 20 bucks than someone standing on a corner with a sign.
http://www.goodwill.org/my-story/janie-marsh/
my photography blog
and here's a little PR piece they did, using her and my MIL:
my photography blog