A Kind Word for the Warden

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." 

- Mother Teresa                                                                                         

Jefferson County jail flanks the north side of downtown Birmingham. It’s not a nice place, even as jails go. It’s overcrowded - some of the cells designed to sleep two people sleep twice that many.  There’s no outside exercise area. The food is substandard.  So, men are stacked inside like firewood, until a spark causes a flame.  Attorneys say that a month in County is like 6 months in a regular jail. 

When my son Matt had his charges changed from State to Federal, he was moved out of the Jefferson County jail into a facility in Cullman County.  For whatever reason, the Feds did not like to mix their prisoners with state inmates.  This meant almost an hour drive from our home to see him every week.  

That drive turned out to be a small price to pay.  I found the difference between the facilities to be striking.  Physically, Cullman was in better condition than County.  But the difference didn’t end there. The personnel were more personable.  Don’t get me wrong, this was still jail. All the rules, regulations, and security applied.  But everyone who worked there seemed to respect the visitors, instead of lumping them in with the inmates. I did not get that impression in Jefferson County. Perhaps it was due to the number of prisoners there, I can’t say.   But I can say that my son was treated better in Cullman.  We were not the only ones who noticed, either.  

After a few months, Matt was sentenced, and left for a facility in central Florida. But I kept thinking about how he was treated in Cullman. So, I decided to reach out to them.  I picked up my phone and called Floyd Lee, the warden for Cullman Detention Center. I was quickly connected. 

“Hello, this is Warden Lee.”

“Hi Warden. My name is Joe Hobby, and my son Matt was in your facility until he was transferred to a federal prison in Florida last week.” 

“Yes sir, I am aware of that”, he answered defensively. 

“Well, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate the way you and you staff conducted themselves around my wife and I during our visits up there. And especially the decent way you treated my son.  Thank you.”

The phone was silent for several seconds.  

“Warden Lee?”

“I’m still here Mr.  Hobby. It’s just that we don’t get very many calls like this.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you don’t.  I know you get a lot of complaints, so I wanted to make sure that  when you do something good, it’s appreciated.”

He said, “Well, thank you so much.   I try to remember that every man and woman in here is a son and daughter, and I try to treat them like I would hope my son or daughter would be treated.”

It’s been 10 years since we talked.  I don’t know if he even remembers our phone call.  But that’s not the point.  I had a chance to affirm something good  that someone did, and I took the time to do it.  I wish I could say I have done it more in my life than I have. However, in the past few years it’s become a personal priority.  Don’t you remember something positive someone said to you?  Something you needed to hear at a bad time in your life?  It’s not that difficult to do, and it could be life changing. 

Even if you were talking to a Warden. 

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