Excerpt from Why I Do What I Do

Why Do I Do What I Do? (An Excerpt)

By Amanda Knight

Who in this life has not made a mistake? I know I have, and I am thankful for the second chances I have been given. So why is society so fast to judge those coming out of jail? It angers me that so many people turn them away, without ever giving them a chance. If prison time is served to pay one’s debt to society, why does society still shun those who have paid their debts?

I know that these people have a lot to offer. When I was an infant, my father could not find work and struggled to support my mother and me. He turned to stealing. He would take items such as lawn equipment and fishing gear from people’s shops and sell them to buy food and pay bills. Was this right? Absolutely not. But he did what he thought he needed to for his family. He was caught and served time in prison. When he got out, he struggled to find work. He became a painter, but it was never stable income.

About 5 years later, he found an electrician willing to take a chance on him. He completed an apprenticeship and became a licensed electrician. Within just a few years he worked his way up to foreman and was managing his own crew, working all around the country on major electrical jobs. He stayed with this job for the next 20 years, until an on-the-job injury forced him to retire. Daddy was an upstanding, contributing member of society who earned six figures each year. He never committed another crime and he is a man I am proud of. He and I are forever thankful to the man who gave him a chance.

So, I know first-hand how important it is to have a shot. And I know how unfair it is not to get it. My hope in volunteering with Positive Transitioning is that I can help someone else be the parent to their child that my Daddy was to me.