BED, BREAKFAST, AND BARS

Was a time you didn't have to be arrested to get in jail. Had a friend, a reputable businessman, who was an alcoholic. He was a good member of AA and would go for months, maybe a year or two, without backsliding. But, when the urges got too strong, and he feared he was going to cave in, he'd go to Immokalee and check himself into the jail. Might stay there two weeks or more. Eventually, he'd check himself out and go back to his business until the next bout with his devils.

Back then, that happened. Wasn't even considered that unusual. There were several rounders who used to lock themselves up to stay out of trouble. If no guard was in attendance, they'd get the keys, lock themselves in, and toss the keys over on the desk. And you thought The Andy Griffith Show was over the top! (Wait'll I tell you about some of the Barney Fifes we had)

At the City, we had a very high ranking politician who would get drunk and rowdy. And when he did, he was a load. We'd lock him up until he sobered up, all the while listening to his threats of firing us when he got out. And, he could've. But he didn't. He'd thank us in the morning.

Never happen today. And, there's a real good reason why some of the humane things we used to let happen were curtailed. Like the friendly jail policy. It went on for years. Until , in one of the jails, a drunk locked himself in a cell with a woman and raped her.