If you’re only going to look for your keys under the street light, you’re never going to find your keys.”
-Anonymous
Scientists and others refer to this as the “Streetlight effect” which represents a form of bias in searching for answers. It comes from a joke that was published in a Massachusetts newspaper in 1924 that goes like this:
“A policeman is helping a drunk man search for his keys under a streetlight. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost the keys there. The drunk replies, “No, I lost them in the park, but I’ll never find them there, this is where the light is”.
We all seek answers in our personal and professional lives, but we often look for the truth where the process of seeking is easy rather than where the truth actually lies. The problem is the keys are not there, and the answers to our most pressing problems cannot be known unless we are willing to get a little lost in the darkness of the issues to find real answers that really work.
Right now, UNITE INDY is deeply engaged in providing a better prospect for men and women returning to our neighborhoods from prison. For decades ex-offenders have been released back into society, only to find there is no way for them to find work, no way to afford transportation to even apply for jobs, and are saddled with parole requirements that interfere with normal employment hours. There is no single resolution to these issues, and the answers will never be found where it is easy to look.
Every post-incarceration situation is unique, but common sense changes and reasonable accommodation for employers can make the difference between a successful return to society or a quick return to prison. We’re not trying to find keys here. We are trying to change lives, and we believe the answers are worth the effort.
Blessings,
Jim
“…With God, all things are possible” – Matthew 19:26
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