Cal.E.'s Korner

Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life End over end, neither left, nor the right Straight through the heart of them righteous uprights Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life

Make me, oh, make me, Lord, more than I am Make a piece in your master game plan Free from the earthly temptation below I've got the will, Lord, if you've got the toe

Bring on the brothers who've gone on before And all of the sisters who've knocked at your door All the departed, dear loved ones of mine And stick 'em up front in the offensive line

Yeah, dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life End over end, neither left, nor the right

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul Charles Craft

Dropkick Me Jesus lyrics © Screen Gems-emi Music Inc., Black Sheep Music

C.: Hey, d.c., do you remember the inmate in 19-C?

d.: The one that graduated from the program six months ago?

C.: Yes, him. He’s back, and now in South 1-B Top.

d.: Hmm. If he’s back in that bunk, he must have started the program over. I’m surprised that they let him back into the program, since he’s a returnee. The state doesn’t usually do that.

C.: Yes, it’s not an easy program to get in.

d.: That’s because these inmates are selected because of their desire to get out of prison and stay out. Most have above average abilities in some areas as well.

C.: Don’t most inmates desire to get out of prison and stay out?

d.: No, not really. According to Prisoners Envious of Our Nests, most want to return. That’s why eight percent of the inmates return to prison after being released. However, when they graduate from the program in place where we work, only one-half of those inmates come back.

C.: Why would they want to come back? As the Texans’ standout rookie quarterback pointed out, some prisons have rats and roaches. Who wants to live in those conditions?

d.: Not some prisons, Cal.E., all of them. I respect C. J. Stroud and his opinion. He’s obviously a bright young man. However, I’ve worked in five different prison units and visited several others, and they all had rats, mice, and roaches. It’s just not a clean environment.

C.: Then why does PEON say that most desire to come back?

d.: I’ll use my author training to show you why, instead of telling you why.

Yesterday, we had a drill. It was realistic, though. We all thought that we were going to a real emergency. When the medical staff arrived, we were supposed to go through our proper protocols. The first medical person at the scene, after assessing the scene for safety and the patient, is to point at someone and tell him or her to call 911 if it’s necessary.

C.: And?!

d.: Well, neither the officers nor the medical staff have outside lines. Only the switchboard can call outside of the facility, and there is one switchboard for two units. They don’t always answer quickly, and they sometimes ask if they can call you back after dialing the number you ask them to call. In this case, the officer I asked to call 911 was put on hold by the switchboard.

C.: What did y’all do then?

d.: I pointed at one of the inmates and told him to call 911. You see, Cal.E., even though the medical staff and officers don’t have access to an outside line, the inmates have access to one in their dorm. It’s accessible to them 24/7 365 days a year. Yes, it does cost to use it, and it’s a single landline in each dorm, so the inmates must wait their turns. However, they also have iPads with limited internet access that they can talk to friends and family members on at any time of the day or night.

C.: There was an outside line in medical for emergencies the last time I was in there

d.: Not anymore. They disconnected it. Also, in addition to the inmates having access to telecommunication at their convenience, they also get meals and room and board as well as cable television in their dorms that are supplied by the state. When these inmates get out into the free world, they find that they must either earn money to supply them with these things, or go through the proper channels to get them supplied by the state. To many former inmates, it’s just easier to go back to a familiar, and somewhat easier environment. We sometimes get meals, but I don’t have an iPad. I must sit at a desktop computer to do my paperwork, and it has limited internet access.

C.: But the prison isn’t air conditioned. It’s hot in this part of Texas in the summer.

d.: That’s also a little misleading. The inmates can go to an air-conditioned day room anytime they feel overheated. If the electricity is out (as it often is) they can come into the medical facility and cool off, as long as we have air conditioning.

C.: I thought there was a back-up generator that kept medical’s electricity on, so that y’all could still give people oxygen or do EKG’s if necessary when the electricity is out. You also need electricity to access the patient’s medical chart, since it’s all electronic now. It sounds like it would be easy for one of your patients to be drop kicked through the goalposts of life if the electricity is out. Don’t the prison officials have any common sense at all?

d.: We do have a backup generator, but it doesn’t supply electricity to the medical facility when the power is out.

C.: Then where does the power go?

d.: To the warden’s office.

C.: So, it’s more important for the ranking officers, and the warden when she’s there, (which isn’t very often, from what I remember) to do paperwork and clock in and out than to be able to save someone’s life?

d.: As I was once told in nursing school, “It’s the government, (Cal.E.). There’s no place for common sense!”

Cal.E.'s Korner

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