as part of a public service commitment, i made a visit to the local detention centers -- aka the county jails. one of the things that struck me -- and there were several -- was how polite were the inmates i encountered. when they passed you in a corridor, they said "excuse me," they answered questions politely and there was none of the sullenness i've come to expect when encountering members of the public in the hospital corridors. i know that i didn't encounter the worst of the worst -- although we did pass by a couple of maxium security dormitories and were subjected to the kind of catcalls i had been expecting from the entire jail population. but by and large those inmates we did encounter were pleasant and polite.
i wonder why those same folks, when visiting friends and family in the hospital, can't be equally polite. it can be argued that it's not a stress thing -- surely being incarcerated is just as stressful as visiting someone in the hospital! could it be that there are consequences to poor behavior when in jail, and none when visiting those "customer service" hotbeds known as hospitals?
