Scenes of Prison
Addendum:
If I Ran the Zoo . . .
D r. Seuss wrote a picture book for children in 1950 titled If I Ran the Zoo. It’s the story of a young zoo patron named Gerald McGrew, who imagines he's running the Zoo. The book describes fantastical creatures that would reside there. It lists all the things he would do as the director, and it imagines how the Zoo would change when his policies are implemented.
There were days at the prison when I imagined myself to be a Gerald McGrew for prisons. I had thirty-five years to think over the problems we had and imagine new ideas that could help us, and I wasn’t alone. My co-workers also were thinking of new approaches that might help, and we often debated our ideas during our lunch breaks. We’d trade proposals back-and-forth and imagine how the prison would change if we implemented them.
The next five chapters bring you into the room and let you sit at the table and listen to some of my ideas. These are the ones I remember best, and they have been tempered by the reactions of my co-workers.
I don’t expect these chapters to be eagerly received. Our debates were spirited and often prompted strong disagreements, but strong disagreements prompt vigorous discussions, and vigorous debates are always entertaining. You may disagree, but you won’t be bored.
Some of my co-workers described my ideas as unorthodox. Others called them crazy. Consequently, I often heard the phrase “We can’t do that.” But I had an answer for this roadblock.
Our communities are dotted with statues of people. They’re people we want to remember because of the contribution they made to improve our communities. They also heard the comment, “We can’t do that,” but that didn’t stop them. They turned the comment, “We can’t do that,” into a question, “How can we do that?” They identified the obstacles standing in the way, and found ways around them. That’s the way change works. If there is to be change, obstacles will be encountered that must be overcome.
Every day, hundreds of thousands of people from all across the country walk into prisons and jails to work, and all of them run the risk of becoming a statistic in the tabulation of injuries and deaths in the line of duty. Our leaders, both in our communities and in our prisons, owe their best efforts to these people. They should refuse to allow roadblocks to stop them from trying to make needed improvements. That’s what leaders do. They try, and when their efforts are heroic and successful, we build them statues.
Discussion
- Are there any statues in the public areas of your community? Are there any public buildings in your community whose names are the names of individuals? Pick one and learn more about this person.
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