Working for a Chance at a Job

(Washington Post) — It’s a Monday morning and Rodney Brown’s 28 students shuffle into a lime-colored room at the Department of Employment Services on H Street NE. Several arrive late. Many wear clothes made for lounging, not impressing.  “I see some of you wearing tennis shoes,” says Brown, his 6-foot frame tidy in gray slacks and a tie. “You come in here tomorrow with them and I’m going to have to send you out.” He is just getting started. Around him, shirts are untucked. Belts bear blinged-out buckles. Pants sit low – too low. “How you going to get on Air Force One with your pants down to here?” Brown says, hitting the sides of his thighs. “If you know you don’t wear size 40, why you buy size 40?”

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