A Little Reflection In Transit: When No Tinted Glasses Is Best

Just a few days ago, I visited Pennsylvania State University (PSU) to meet Professor Graeme Sullivan, the Director of PSU School of Visual Art. His book is a key reference for my Capstone Project and I have tried all possible ways to get an appointment with him. My persistence paid off and it was worth the a 6-hour Greyhound bus journey to meet the guru in the mountain.  

From State College to Harrisburg

The return trip would take me from the city of State College to Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania, before switching bus to Washington DC. 

At State College Greyhound Station, I noticed a group of 5 to 6 men wearing brand new but very ill-fitting and oversized Denim jeans and Denim lined jackets. They all had white T-shirts inside. I didn't think much of it but I have observed they all seemed to be wearing the same XXXL size jackets despite their varying physical stature and clothing size. They all had shaven heads except for one. The ride to Harrisburg was not full, apart from this group of men, there were two other male passengers and myself. They were friendly to one another, took a cigarette puff together just before boarding the bus, but did not seemed to be friends as they sat apart and did not really chat during the ride.

After 2 hours, we arrived at Harrisburg and I saw the men pulling out sealed brown office boxes from the under carriage luggage compartment. They each took a box, and each box has a label of a an alphabet followed by a 4-digit number, and a name (I'd assume they were their names). Then I noticed while waiting in the transit room, one of them went to a corner and opened the box. The box has personal belongings and some papers. He transferred the items to a netting bag. I also noticed each man had the same netting bag. I guessed by this time that these men are ex-convicts, just  released from prison.  

When I reached my residence in College Park, MA., in the evening, I searched on Google and found out there is actually a mid-security prison in State College. Some of the inmates were given opportunities to work in farms during their incarceration. In fact PSU has a collaborative project with the prison. 

The way we see is often the way we CHOOSE to see

Some may ask me if I was scared. Well, perhaps it was good I didn't know anything from State College to Harrisburg. 

More importantly, I asked myself if I would behave differently had I knew, or would see them in any different light. In fact, the men were not rowdy and actually very polite. When one could see I was looking for space to put my bag in the under carriage compartment, he pushed his box further in to free up space. Another let me get off the bus first before him. It is a good moment to remind myself not to see people with tinted lenses. 

For these men, there are certainly going to be challenges ahead. Re-integration challenges are part of the consequences of whatever mistake they had made. I sincerely hope they will persevere. But I also hope the community where they are going to settle will help them integrate. There is hope yet. This reminds me of some shots I took on the bus while on the way to State College. The photos speak for themselves.

Everyone makes mistakes, some smaller and others bigger. Every mistake does come with consequences, and everyone should learn to accept consequences. Wisdom often comes with learning from mistakes, so everyone can be given a second chance.

Education should be helping students to learn to own accountability of their actions, and to learn to be gracious in helping others make amends.

Till next time......