The Phone Call
When the phone rang, I picked it up and looked at the number. This had become my habit as I have been plagued with solicitors, contest offerings, and phone calls for someone else who has been using my number to apply for loans and such. I do not answer 800 numbers or those whose caller identification is “Unknown”.
I looked for a moment and realized there was something familiar about the number, but as the ringing continued I knew I had a choice; answer and find out who is calling or let it go to voice message. Just like Pavlof’s dogs were trained to salivate, we have trained ourselves to respond to the dings and rings of our electronic devices thus we respond no matter who is there or what they offer.
I reluctantly answered not only from myself training but from my own curiosity to know who was calling. A recorded voice retorted, “You have a call from an inmate at the county jail. I should not have answered.
Looking around the courtroom I noticed all the other individuals who had received the same call. Parents, friends, lawyers, two pregnant women, victims, three bailiffs and a few well dressed attorneys. The judge entered, as I have had the unfortunate experience of being in this same courtroom many times, I knew him as a wise and compassion man well versed in the law and the consequences individuals face when they break it.
In the jury box sat men and women in orange, gray, and pink and white striped jumpsuits. All handcuffed to their waist chains and shackles around their ankles. Most had unkept hair, unshaven, and tattoos. The inmates had been transported to the courtroom that day to face the Judge for the first time and discuss the new charges against them.
As court proceedings began one by one the inmates stepped forward and spoke with the judge some with attorneys some not. I noticed parents cried, girlfriends shook their heads, and the inmates where mostly humbled by the setting.
The crimes this group of individuals were accused of where: use of a controlled substance, use of a controlled substance in a drug free zone, drug paraphernalia, child endangerment, theft, parole violations, domestic violence, and sex crimes against children.
I found the one thread that lead through all of them, self-gratification.
I guess when individuals place their own self-interests above the safety of others including their own children and above the laws of society, we are doomed to repeat this event.
When the phone rang, I picked it up and looked at the number. This had become my habit as I have been plagued with solicitors, contest offerings, and phone calls for someone else who has been using my number to apply for loans and such. I do not answer 800 numbers or those whose caller identification is “Unknown”.
I looked for a moment and realized there was something familiar about the number, but as the ringing continued I knew I had a choice; answer and find out who is calling or let it go to voice message. Just like Pavlof’s dogs were trained to salivate, we have trained ourselves to respond to the dings and rings of our electronic devices thus we respond no matter who is there or what they offer.
I reluctantly answered not only from myself training but from my own curiosity to know who was calling. A recorded voice retorted, “You have a call from an inmate at the county jail. I should not have answered.
---
Looking around the courtroom I noticed all the other individuals who had received the same call. Parents, friends, lawyers, two pregnant women, victims, three bailiffs and a few well dressed attorneys. The judge entered, as I have had the unfortunate experience of being in this same courtroom many times, I knew him as a wise and compassion man well versed in the law and the consequences individuals face when they break it.
In the jury box sat men and women in orange, gray, and pink and white striped jumpsuits. All handcuffed to their waist chains and shackles around their ankles. Most had unkept hair, unshaven, and tattoos. The inmates had been transported to the courtroom that day to face the Judge for the first time and discuss the new charges against them.
As court proceedings began one by one the inmates stepped forward and spoke with the judge some with attorneys some not. I noticed parents cried, girlfriends shook their heads, and the inmates where mostly humbled by the setting.
The crimes this group of individuals were accused of where: use of a controlled substance, use of a controlled substance in a drug free zone, drug paraphernalia, child endangerment, theft, parole violations, domestic violence, and sex crimes against children.
I found the one thread that lead through all of them, self-gratification.
I guess when individuals place their own self-interests above the safety of others including their own children and above the laws of society, we are doomed to repeat this event.
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