Walking in the midst of rehabilitated felons- story by August H Mallory

In the early morning hours of a place known as william booth center in downtown seattle. there is a place that houses military veterans and ex-offenders, as I mingle amongst them to get a closer idea as to what they are feeling and currently going through. many still have that mentality of a hardcore felon, as far as the veterans, there are those who served in the military but yet also have run afoul of the law. in the downtown seattle area. it is a cluster of homeless man and women who chooses not to work. but to continue drawing ssi, gau, welfare and public assistance, here in seattle if you are homeless there are many programs for the poor. but it is the ex-offenders who now have the better advantage, through special programs ex-offenders are now getting well paying jobs, they are being trained for supervisory positions, management positions, customer service positions, etc, I look at all of this and now wonder to myself. at one time if a person had a criminal past, they were never ever allowed to hold such positions,
but in this society of worker shortage, many companies are taking a second look at ex-offenders and just how valuable they can be in the workforce. I must tell the truth, I do not feel very comfortable working under a person with a criminal past. and when I think about all the schooling that I went through and still cannot get a good paying job. and here is a person who probably never finished high school. or never made it to high school, and has no formal leadership training and is now my supervisor, I have to admit I do not feel comfortable at all. but these are ex-offenders who have been rehabilitated to make there way into the workforce to become productive citizens,
when I look back at my own experience, high school graduate, military veteran, college graduate, with tons of work experience behind me. why is it so difficult to move ahead. I think to myself, maybe being a law breaker just might have been an option for me. ex-offenders are moving ahead faster than I am. how much education does it take to get ahead. many ex-offenders don't have a GED and are getting good jobs. so what is the secret behind all of this, I have yet to know.