WAS IT a case of 'Bah Humbug', the Spirit of Scrooge overwhelming Santa Claus and 'Ho-ho-ho', or were the authorities at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre motivated by the necessity to be "safe rather than sorry," why the annual Christmas concert at the institution was abruptly cancelled last Tuesday morning? As the story goes, female dependants of the incarcerated were all set to get into the spirit of sharing and caring. Not only were the halls 'decked' in a manner of speaking but so were the guests. As a subsequent photograph in our weekday publication, The Gleaner, was to show, the women seemed to have spared no effort in their choice of 'bashment' ensemble and jewellery, no doubt to bring joy to the hearts of their menfolk, long deprived of their company. They were all set to mingle for, after all, this is "the season of mingling." But lo and behold the authorities put a damper on the festivities.
There would be no mingling. Instead, the female guests were to be assigned to a designated area, away from their 'dates'. Now what, you may well ask, could have inspired such a decision? Could it be that the authorities awoke at the last minute to the challenges inherent in mingling, seeing that the men in the audience had been deprived of feminine company for sometime?
Could there have been a fear of the transfer of substances inimical to good order? After all, it is not so long ago that a cell phone epidemic broke out in that very correctional centre.
And what of drugs and weapons? These are not unknown in the institution, creating disorder and violence. Was it fear of transfer of such, from guests to hosts, which ended up subsuming the spirit of festivity? Well, might you ask, was no thought given to this before Concert Day? Were the women self-deluded into believing that the occasion would be like going on a date to the movies, perhaps? And what of the incarcerated, what were their expectations and hopes?
Supporters of prison reform aimed at encouraging inmates to seek a new way of life, might well be disappointed that the event came to an inglorious end, for when the women discovered that there would be no 'mingling', they were outraged. The concert was cancelled. The women retreated and engaged in that popular Jamaican rite of disaffection a demonstration.
To date, there is no evidence of any complaint lodged to any of the advocacy groups that the prisoners were subject to cruel and inhumane treatment by being deprived of the opportunity to mingle. It is not clear if Santa Claus was present, but nothing has been heard from him either. You would imagine that one whose speciality is getting folk to mingle in a spirit of Yuletide cheer might have shown some interest, but, he, like the authorities, seem preoccupied with more weighty matters of moment.
Maybe he, like us, has heard it said that conjugal visits for the incarcerated are being considered as part of rehabilitation. When that shall have come to pass, it will undoubtedly put a whole new face on the concept of institutional mingling, be it Yuletide or other tide.
