Apology and stuff

“A promise made/Is a debt unpaid” -Robert Service.

A few years ago, I wrote a weekly column in The Shopper, which is, by the way, the only locally owned paper in town. Do you miss Conrad Black who owned the Herald? It is Jerry Paskiw who gave me my start as a columnist these many years ago.

I wrote two columns comparing the job descriptions of Corrections Workers (jail) and Corrections Officers (Pen). There were the expected threats and calls from people in counselling. There was even a half page ad in the Herald blaming my husband! Husband is and was a well respected Pen employee and a man who saved the lives of more than a dozen lives by negotiating their freedom. He also taught hostage negotiation to jail employees.

However, one Corrections Worker (jail) called and we had a calm telephone conversation for almost an hour. I promised I would express her views in a further column and I did. However, that column was never printed.

What I had to say about her beliefs is this: she loved her job and she was certain she did it well. But further, she talked about her position which had to do with prisoners on remand. They can be dangerous. Being on remand means the prisoner has not yet been tried, but if found guilty, could well go to the penitentiary. So, my comments on the difference between prisoners in jail and those in the Pen needed amendment.

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There is still a difference. On remand, prisoners to not have the freedom to mix with the inmate population of the jail but they do with the Cws. In the penitentiary, prisoners are allowed to mix. I still stand by my belief that working at the penitentiary is the more risky of the two jobs, but her job, and her fellow workers' job is dangerous.

There are also two unions: one dealing with the provincial government and one dealing with the federal government. Approaches and benefits are different, for whatever reasons. My point is, the woman felt her work was as important as anyone's and she did it to the best of her ability. The insinuation that pen employees worked harder and in more dangerous situations didn't sit well with her. She had rational points to make and she made them rationally. I have a great deal of respect for her and her views.

The ad accused Husband was peculiar . It accused Husband of telling me all sorts of old anecdotes which I used ?? as a basis for my columns. Get outa here! I can get into all sorts of troubles all by myself.

Husband, like most jail or pen employees, didn't talk about work. He did tell me one anecdote in the 30 years we've been together though. It was an impressive example of 'being on the horns of a dilemma'. An escapee made it to the top of the wall. As he straddled the wall, the CO on the outside told him that if he moved, he would shoot. Meanwhile, the CO on the inside told that if he moved, he would shoot. I don't how the escapee escaped escaping.

And stuff: I belong to a writers' group in Saskatoon. Together, they have made an outstanding book, a collection of short stories based on Saskatchewan life, past and present. It's called 'Love, Loss and Oddities' and it is definitely an excellent book. My story is not in it because it was in Berlin and I was in Prague. There is going to be a reading of portions of the books by one or two of the authors, many of whom are published authors, at the JM Cuelenaere Public Library on February 29_______.

The book will be on sale at the reading and is also in the library stacks, available for borrowing and hopefully in bookstores soon.