Originally broadcast on CHED Radio, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1963

A man came into my office about a year ago.  He was perhaps 34 years old.  He needed a shave, his shoes were unsigned, and his clothes, although stylishly cut, we're threadbare and soiled. He told me his story and a sad tale  it was.  He had just come out of a correctional institution.  He had lost his last three jobs because of alcohol.  His wife and child had left him and he was completely alone.  He had $.20 in his pocket and apologize for his appearance, explaining that he hadn't had the price of a room the previous night so had walked the streets.  He was a defeated, but pleasant, and I must say talented young man.  I reviewed his record with my superior and we both agreed that on the strength of his record, we had no right even talking employment.  I said to my boss, "this guy really needs a break.  He is as down and out as any man I've ever seen.  If we don't give him a break, who will"?  My superior, a very humane guy, agreed we should take a chance and hire him on for three months.  This we did.  At the end of two months we felt we might have a winner, but then one night he disappeared with a staff car and the next thing we knew he was in jail for drunk driving and for failing to report an accident.  I guess deep down both the boss and I knew it would turn out this way, but what do you do when a fellow human being needs "one more chance"?  I know a man who has devoted his whole life to helping men whom other men have written off as "derelict".  What would I do if my friend again appeared on the scene?  I think I'd try to give him another chance.  So often in my life I repeat the old phrase, "there but for the grace of God go I".