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I Was a Young Probation Officer
Every so often, I briefly allude to having served as a P.O., as in an Adult Probation Officer.
This was no small part of my life, being my first so-called “real job” out of college from the spring of 1994 until the fall of 2000 when I segued from that job to the field of economic development, in which I remain employed today. Even when our son was a baby, I was still a P.O. in Chicago.
If you are or were on probation, felony probation specifically, I do not wish to offend you with the following, but I basically spent my days dealing with, not working with, the lowest of the low and some of the dregs of society.
Sure, there were plenty of decent folks and even, dare I say, some good ones who found their way onto felony probation due to unfortunate circumstances, but many of them should have been incarcerated rather than roaming the streets freely in search of their next scam or victim.
If you are now in your twenties or thirties, you may still recall bits and pieces of being in kindergarten or first grade, but eventually, most of those memories fade.
Now past the age of fifty and having worked in a high-pressure field (even higher than probation!) for over twenty-two years…
