One slip and a life can turn into a Rocky horror show
WE all love stories where the “baddie” comes good.
Les Miserables is the haunting story by Victor Hugo of a convicted criminal whose live is turned around by a compassionate benefactor (the Bishop) who believes that people can truly change for the better.
Then there’s Sylvester Stallone’s magnificent story of Rocky (now with six sequels) about a punk boxer who is given an extraordinary chance at the world heavyweight title.
We love those stories — in movies, books, magazines — where people who are “down on their luck” are given a chance to begin again, to start afresh. And we’ll cheer when, in differing circumstances, they succeed in turning their life around.
How come we cheer? Well, we’ve all made our share of mistakes and hopefully we’ve been able to start again, have a second chance, an opportunity for redemption.
But the long memory of today’s technology, combined with increasing need for documentation and a lawand-insurance view of just about everything, means that the way we do things now is rapidly making a second chance — let alone a “fair go” — a thing of the past.
In 2008, Jason was 18 when he and a few makes got into strife. They had been “out for few drinks”, only to discover when they left the hotel to head home that the battery of their car was dead. Jason’s best mate had left the headlights on.
To them, the simplest thing to do on a wintry Friday night was to steal a battery from a nearby ute.
CCTV picked up the whole escapade and Jason and his two mates were charged with and convicted of theft. The fine imposed wasn’t too heavy — $800. It was the conviction that mattered. Initially, he had retained his job in a small supermarket because of an understanding employer who believed in giving a second chance. But when the store was taken over by a large supermarket chain, Jason was laid off.
And his theft conviction has continued to rear its ugly head with every job application. Whenever a potential employer asks, he has to admit his conviction for theft as an 18year-old.
Even if he’s not asked specifically, the required police check will reveal it anyway. So door after door closes in his face.
His self-esteem is like his income — virtually zero.
The indelible and relentless memory of technology — including reports in his local country newspaper where the smallest of court cases are big news — still means that whenever his name is googled, that 10-minute hearing eight years ago, the $800 fine and, most importantly, the theft conviction, are all up there on the screen within two seconds.
He knows the old saying “if you’ve got the name, you might as well play the game”. He’s struggling with the idea that if he is perceived widely as a thief — and maybe always will be — then he might as well become one.
He hasn’t gone down that path yet, but he’s dangerously close to doing so.
So what about “redemption”? What about a “new start”, a “fair go”?
Without doubt, there are some convictions, some crimes that are indicative of major character failings. These will probably never go away and can pose an unacceptable risk for an employer — chronic thieving, ongoing drunkenness, consistently lewd behaviour are just some.
But a single lapse of judgment — commonly the result of youthful stupidity, alcohol, or both — can result in a conviction that will haunt the offender as a life sentence.
Surely our 21st century, despite our legal and insurance-driven approach to so much of life, can find some workable middle-ground.
A “fair go” and “common sense” — everyone believes in them.
But they may well be close to becoming a thing of the past. Fr Kevin Dillon is the parish priest at St Mary’s, Geelong