Coco Calling No.291 - The Day My Owner Went to Prison
Yes, the day finally arrived when my owner went to prison. I wasn’t surprised to hear the news; no, I assumed that his appalling sense of humour has finally caught up with him, and that his fellow human beings couldn’t take it anymore. And for a while, I had visions of him being stuck inside a sort of glorified birdcage for the remainder of his life.
But then news reached me that he’d only spent an hour or so inside. Why did they let him out so soon? Had he become a reformed character in the space of sixty minutes? It was only then that I discovered that he wasn’t in prison for his own misdemeanours but because he was visiting someone in need.
As prisons go, this one wasn’t so bad. It held Category ‘C’ prisoners that were deemed to be lower risk, and so it had a more relaxed feel than many other human bird cages. Security was still very tight with fingerprint checks, photographs, I.D. checks, body frisks and metal detectors all being employed. He couldn’t take anything in other than the clothes he was wearing. Even the handkerchief in his pocket was confiscated, and because his fillings kept triggering the metal detector, he nearly lost all of his teeth as well.
Visits took place in a hall area inside. Like a great many humans behind bars, the person that my owner was visiting was badly in need of a friend. His own family had shunned him and at one point, he’d attempted to take his own life. This human’s world had completely fallen apart.
My owner sat waiting in the hall along with many other visitors; then a line of prisoners entered, each wearing a bright orange tabard. And within a few seconds, the hall was filled with instant joy as the prisoners were reunited with their nearest and dearest. There were hugs; there were kisses; there were smiles and there were laughs. Some visitors were lifted up from the floor and squeezed in mid-air. A sense of real love and joy enveloped the space which was reminiscent of an airport ‘Arrivals’ Hall.
This whole experience taught my owner a thing or two. Because there’s a narrow line between humans that transgress and those that remain on the right side of the law. And irrespective of which side they end up on, humans (just like parrots), still need to feel love and to be loved. Love is the greatest gift that any of us will ever know. And not only is it important for us all to receive love, but we need to share our love with others around us. Irrespective of the circumstance or situation. Because where there’s love there’s always hope for the future….
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
(Mother Teresa: [1910-1997]: Albanian born Catholic nun who dedicated her life to helping the poor and needy people of Calcutta, India and beyond. She was posthumously canonised in 2016)
“What does love look like? It has hands to help others. It has feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
(Saint Augustine: [354-430]: Theologian and philosopher of Berper origin, and Bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa)
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
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