Throughout the seemingly never-ending tale of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice, the refrain from the public was clear: give the guy a second chance. Even as his lengthy rap sheet emerged, even as details of his many kids and grandkids came to light, Williams wasn’t short on defenders. This is the land of forgiveness and second chances, a place for redemption, and he deserved an opportunity to do right.
Yes, we all might be a little sick of Williams by now, and yes, it’s well and good what happened to Williams but we really need more effort, focus, and energy in tackling the larger plague of homelessness in the country, but for the most part, no one begrudged Williams’ luck or opportunities.
The Plain Dealer’s Philip Morris wrote that Williams’ story is one we can all love, one richly deep in both sentimentality and pragmatic lessons.
This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2011.
I happen to know Steve Majors. I think the point here is that the guy screwed up and continued to screw up even as he was applying for the new position (being drunk and obnoxious at a high school football game and bothering students last fall). Getting his boss at the auditors offfice to petition the judge to get rid of the restricted party plates he got from his second dwi and get regular license plates didn’t help his cause. Yes, some people deserve second chances in life. Like Williams, Majors keeps screwing up. He deserves a second chance at WalMart or maybe McDonalds, not working for the county.