As the videotape rolled—a four part series titled, “The Story of Theodore Roosevelt”—I reminded my class to keep quiet and pay attention.
“What happened to my freedom of speech?” Prisoner Willis asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” I replied, “You’ve got nothing to say.”
“Am I on your shit list?”
“Watch the video.”
“No President, not even Obama, did anything for me.”
“You haven’t done anything for yourself. Watch the video.”
A few minutes later, as we learned about Theodore Roosevelt’s severe asthma, Prisoner Willis continued, “On average, how long does it take to get a GED in here?”
“I don’t know. You’ll raise the average anyway,” I answered.
“I haven’t been to school in years.”
“You’re still not in school,” I observed. “Physically, yes; mentally, no.” Then I added, “Watch the video.”
“All I got to do is—“
I cut him off. “When you minimize your actions you minimize your education. WATCH THE DAMN VIDEO!”
He gave it a rest; let the others enjoy the documentary.
Near the end of class he said, “They named a condom after him.”
Taken by surprise, I said, “Huh? What?”
“Roosevelt,” he said.
I failed to see the connection.
“Rough Riders.” He smiled.
7 comments:
Hum, seems he was paying attention to something!
Yeah! A history joke!
Good one ;->
Haha! That cracked me up. JR, you always know how to make me laugh. Then I stop and think about the serious side of the situation. I don't know how you do what you do. But I'm glad you do it, because I'm too cowardly to go anywhere near a prison. This is an awesome story.
Still not there mentally, clearly. (Sorry about the poor frog!)
My kinda convict!...;-)
Well, at least he was witty. D
That is actually pretty clever, considering the source. Glad you are back.
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