Jimmy just left my office! And what a scary story!
I see a lot of ex inmates, people who have committed various crimes, people who are accused of committing various crimes and people who made mistakes which crossed into the criminal realm and have had to face the music.
But Jimmy’s story takes the cake.
Jimmy was referred to me by Rabbi Eli Siedman, who said Jimmy had a run in with the law twenty five years ago, and has had a problem finding a job! I offered to meet with him, and Jimmy was in my office two hours later.
Jimmy suffers from severe bi-polar and is mentally challenged, a hundred years ago he would have been a easy candidate for one of the state hospitals, however in today’s society given the right support there is no question a person of his mental capacity has the potential of leading a good productive life – we all know people like Jimmy in our community working in various capacities.
However when he was a teenager or his early twenties Jimmy completed three different credit card applications, all the same day, one was for ‘Donald Duck’ the second was for ‘Mickey Mouse’ and the third was for ‘Mendel Mouse’, he awarded these three characters their own social security number and guess what, three weeks later he had the three credit cards in his possessions.
Strangely the day they arrived he notices a black van in the parking lot of the apartment he lives in, he was living there with the help of his parents who were paying his rent and helping out with his needs. He knocks on the window of the van with darkened windows to tell them he knows why they are there. They ignore him, and yes a week later there are five guys at the door of his apartment. They found the three envelops with the credit cards still inside. Jimmy said to me in the office “I would never have used them, that would be stealing and I am not a bad guy, am I Rabbi” “no Jimmy, you’re not a bad guy”, he spent the next month in jail, as his sister refused to post the $500 bond, as she decided to teach him a lesson, and he was then given two years probation!
However it is now twenty four years later: Jimmy cannot find any employment. If the job application asks, have you been convicted of a felony? He must check the “yes” box. And this is not any felony, this is credit card fraud!!!!!
Jimmy will start our computer training course Monday morning, and I have spoken to a business owner who has agreed to hire him. “No Jimmy, you’re not a bad guy” I am still trying to figure out here who the bad guy is?