Cowboys don't cry, and heroes don't die
Good always wins, again and again
And love is a sweet dream that always comes true
Oh, if life were like the movies, I'd never be blue
But here in the real world
It's not that easy at all
'Cause when hearts get broken
It's real tears that fall
And darlin' it's sad but true
But the one thing I've learned from you
Is how the boy don't always get the girl
Here in the real world
I gave you my love, but that wasn't enough
To hold your heart, when times got rough
And tonight on that silver screen
It'll end like it should
Two lovers will make it through
Like I hoped we would
But here in the real world
It's not that easy at all
'Cause when hearts get broken
It's real tears that fall
And darlin' it's sad but true
But the one thing I've learned from you
Is how the boy don't always get the girl
Here in the real world
No, the boy don't always get the girl
Here in the real world
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Alan Jackson / Mark Irwin
Here in the Real World lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc
C.: Hi, d.c. I just called to tell you about my night. wE had THE best officer last night…
d.: Who was it, Cal.E.?
C.: Mr. George. He made sure that the inmates got where they needed to be. He would warn them an hour ahead of time if they needed to be somewhere. He called one guy six times! The guy finally woke up and got to his appointment just in time. I felt no stress at all last night, because none of the inmates were stressed.
d.: I’m familiar with Mr. George. His intentions are good, but I don’t agree with the way he conducts his business.
C.: Why not, d.c.? Everyone got to their appointments on time. That’s the first time I can remember that happening since I’ve been working at The Kennel.
d.: Yes, Cal.E. It LOOKS good, but I believe it’s detrimental to the inmates. We work at a prerelease facility. That means that almost all the inmates will be released into the “real world” within the next two years. Unless they go back and live with their parents (which some of them do) there won’t be anybody to call them six times to get to an appointment on time. It looks good in theory, but doesn’t work in reality.
That reminds me of an off-color joke that I won’t share in this blog (although it IS funny). The point of the joke is that, just because you may believe you may have something in theory (or that something will work in theory), it doesn't mean that the theory will work in reality.
I know that I have addressed this issue in this blog before, but I believe it bears repeating. I compare inmates to actors and politicians. None of these three populations must deal with the real world. They all live in protected environments, where idealism sounds good. They all live in a theoretical world.
I’m often asked, “What works in this situation?” by my patients. In reality, what works for one patient in a certain situation may not be effective in another situation, even if I’m dealing with the same person. That’s why I can’t tell anyone that there is a guarantee that anything will work. It’s called “practicing medicine” for a reason. As I have stated many times, every mathematical equation has a two percent margin for error. This patient may be in that two percent margin.
That’s why I’m skeptical when politicians say that they know this or that will work if given the chance. The truth is, more often than not, that idea has only been tested under ideal conditions. No variables have been considered. I only wish that politicians were held to the same standard as people in your dad’s and my industries are. It costs several million dollars and many years to put a chemical on the market to be used in agriculture. It costs almost twice as much to put a new medicine into use, in terms of dollars and years.
If the general population held politicians to that standard, they wouldn’t be making promises that things will work that they know will not. One reason that eighty percent of the prison population is second and third-time offenders is that they expect their lives to be as easy on the outside as it is on the inside. When they discover that it isn’t, they commit crimes. Some purposefully try to get caught so that they can go back to an easier life.
C.: But only one-half of our Human Kennel’s population re-enter the prison system.
d.: Yes, that’s true. That’s because The Kennel gives classes teaching them how to act outside of prison. They also must hold down a job, which was declared unconstitutional by the legislature several years ago…
C.: Then why must our inmates hold down a job?
d.: Because they ask to be put into our facility. They agree to work and take classes. It’s a good program, but some still don’t want to do what they have agreed to do. That’s probably the fifty percent that comes back to The Human Kennel.
C.: Wow! Maybe, when I’ve been working at The Kennel for ten years as you have, d.c., I’ll see the fallacy in the way some officers conduct business.
d.: It takes a lot of thought to come up with the program our Human Kennel has in place. I think it is a good program. Even so, I still tell inmates, when they tell me they are about to be released, that what they are about to experience is like jumping from kindergarten to graduate school. There is that much difference between the two ways of living.
C.: That’s all the time we have for today, folks. Join us tomorrow for another episode of “CAl.E.’s Corner.”
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