By Edward R. Hagler
Orlando Sentinel
(AP photo) |
ORLANDO, Florida — Orange County used to have a prison farm for its inmates and grew vegetables to defray the cost of housing the prisoners.
Orlando had its own city prison farm on the northwest corner of Fairvilla Road and West Colonial Drive.
That also had large vegetable patches, and cows could be seen grazing behind the fences.
One day as we were passing by, my wife asked, “What is that building with all the cows, fences and stuff?”
I responded that it was the Orlando prison farm.
Our daughter, who was sitting in back, asked, “What is a prison farm?”
I said that is where they put people who have done bad things.
After a few seconds of silence, our daughter, in a sobbing voice that only can come from a 6-year-old said, “But . . . but . . . what did the cows do wrong, Daddy?”
Right and wrong are important in my life, and I based my career on it.
When I was a rookie Florida Highway patrolman -- 10 days on the job -- and was riding with a veteran trooper, we were dispatched to a traffic crash in west Orange County.
We saw two cars in the intersection. Both had severe damage. I looked into one of the back seats, and what I saw is seared into my memory.
Buckets of white paint had burst. Swirls of blood and paint were mixed to look like abstract art. A little blond, blue-eyed boy covered in paint -- with one eye partially dislodged -- looked up at me as if saying, “Will you help me?”
It was a haunting sight.
When we left, my training officer said, “Well, what do you think about that?”
I said, “I think I got a lot of toughening up to do.”
Copyright 2009 Sentinel Communications Co.