Hiring the Socially Somewhat-Handicapped

It's an axiom of business that when you hold down costs, you increase profits. In my pursuit of the American Dream, I came up with an approach to this lofty goal that does me credit, financially as well as Socially and Morally. (Mo Rally?)

If you can't read the sign at the left of the photo, it says Camp
David Gonzalez. This is a juvenile detention center, run by the Los Angeles County Probation Department. They house non-violent juveniles here. Kids who've run away, kids with truancy problems who refuse to go to school, kids who break laws but not bones, that kind of thing.

In an effort to help the kids, the County asked for bids from employers who would teach the kids a trade. I volunteered my curb painting business and I went to the camp to pitch the business to the Probation Officers and the kids. I waxed eloquently about the joys of being outside on bright, sunny days, meeting people and getting them to agree to having their curbs painted and then doing the actual painting. I explained how they'd have to learn about all the different paints we offer, the different font stencils and the logo stencils they have have next to the number, for a nominal extra cost. I suggested that the kids could learn valuable social skills. But I may have lost them when I made a joke, which in retrospect I can see was not all that wise to have mentioned. All I did was laughingly remark that being in middle class and affluent neighborhoods would give them a chance to 'case the joint' if they wanted to pad their incomes. Some of the kids laughed, but none of the Probation Officers did.

They said they'd get back to me, but now that I've thought about it, they probably won't. The bastards... They were going to let me pay the kids $2.00 an hour. You can't imagine how much I could have made with a crew of JD's working for me.

DABT?