He had been a prison guard for a number of years. He always liked his job and for the most part, he liked the people with whom he worked. It was a high-level prison. Most of the inmates were doing time for some serious crimes. That didn’t entirely bother him as they seemed to all have much respect for him as a guard and as a person. Though while he knew many of these men had not turned from their ways, he always wanted to believe in the best of man. And, he would reason, we all make mistakes. We all deserve to be forgiven. One particular day, he was in the cafeteria, on duty, when he witnessed a couple of the inmates get into a heated argument. They were arguing over their lunch portions. The one apparently, was trying to force the other to give him his portion. The two began screaming at each other, until one took a bite from his meat portion and the other stood up, raising his hand to strike him. He hit him hard. The prison guard, upon seeing this, rushed in and subdued him but was distracted by the shouting of the rest of the prisoners. Suddenly, there was a violent tapping on his shoulder. It was not an aggressive tapping, merely to get his attention. When he turned, the prisoner who was trying to get his attention pointed to the prisoner who had been struck. The guard, when his eyes focused, was shocked to see this inmate choking. His face was turning purple and he strained and gasped and struggled for breath. The second he saw it, the guard rushed to this inmate and, getting behind him, performed the Heimlich maneuver on him. The guard pulled violently and the inmate convulsed with his every thrust. The inmate’s face was turning white but the guard did not give up. He continued the movements for nearly a minute until, the inmate’s legs gave out on him and the guard was left holding both of their weights. And with a final deep and powerful thrust, the inmate shook and a large piece of bone was shot out of his throat. It landed on the other side of the cafeteria. Suddenly, the inmate threw up. And afterwards, a deep gasping breath of air. They both collapsed. The prisoners each looked at one another, recognizing this as a time where there was not a guard watching their every move. Every one of them, after realizing this, lowered their eyes out of respect for what had just happened and they submitted. That moment, two other guards burst through the cafeteria doorway and helped them up. One took the recovering inmate into the medical center while the prison guards took their posts, once again. Lunch resumed. Almost as though nothing had happened. The prison guard who had saved the man’s life said nothing, until the other guard, standing next to him, whispered, “Why did you save him? You know what he’s in here for,” and added a harrumph. The prison guard smiled boldly and said, “Everyone deserves life. Everyone deserves to be helped.”
- From my Book Fables of Good Will.
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