Jailhouse Rock

Although I normally work the afternoon shift, I decided to work some mornings during the holiday season for overtime. One morning I was assigned to assist one of the sergeants with showers and shakedowns in the facility's restrictive housing unit. Incidentally, this particular sergeant has the reputation for having a stern demeanor and being very disciplined. So it struck me as being a bit unusual when I heard him beginning to hum a Christmas carol. I brushed it off and continued my duties directing inmates to the showers and shaking down their cells. The sergeant's subtle humming soon turned into singing. As his carols were quite familiar to me, I saw no harm in chiming in with him. I figured it was rather appropriate for the season and it might help the day pass by. In a few minutes, I heard other voices joining in. The inmates who were showering all began to sing Christmas carols along with us. Soon after the entire unit was in a cheerful uproar. For a few moments in there, I saw the hardcore prison image as sort of a jolly time jail. There has never been another morning like that morning in that unit, since.

Andre J. Primeaux
Corrections Officer
Bucks County Department of Corrections
Doylestown, PA