Correction Match Pt. 03

Joy fidgeted a little as the silence became uncomfortable once Chris was finished his explanation. "So, 11th grade English. It was one of my favorite classes in all of high school," Chris finally volunteered. Joy laughed and began to think of a response, but just then, Chris's phone rang. He listened for a few moments, and then said "Okay, got it. Don't worry," before hanging up the phone and turning to face Joy.

"So, look. Unfortunately, there isn't another counselor available. Everyone who would have been available has already started with programs for the evening. I apologize, it's not your fault at all. So, what we'll have to do is reschedule, and you'll just come back a different night to get this detention issue out of the way. There won't be any penalty for it."

"Oh, I see. But... I also don't get any credit for coming down here and being ready to start? Because I've already prepared mentally and changed and everything", Joy asked with a forced smile, although she could guess the answer.

"Yeah ... it's just one of those things." Chris glanced over towards Joy. "I mean, unless.... well, you could just get it over with tonight. Since you're already here. There isn't an official rule about counselors you're acquainted with, as long as it's not a close friend or family member. But we try to avoid it for obvious reasons. So, I'll leave it up to you -- I get that it probably makes the most sense to just reschedule, but... yeah," he said, trailing off.

Joy's heart raced a bit. She hadn't seen that offer coming. But it was something to consider. After all, she'd already gone to the trouble of physically and mentally preparing for tonight and had made an excuse to her boyfriend Jeff for why she wouldn't be available for the entire evening. And maybe Chris would somehow... help her out? Or take it easy on her?

"Um, that's interesting, I appreciate you making the offer," Joy finally responded. "I wonder -- I mean I'm a little bit in the dark on what happens today. Do you think you could fill me in at all before I decide what to do?"

Chris smiled at her reassuringly. "Sure -- well as the counselor, I'm here to mostly oversee your evening here. As you probably know, these detention sessions are a way to provide some additional guidance and consequences to people who've had some issues with the rules of the Correction Match program. The point of the program is to have an alternative correction method that won't interfere with everyday life, and the detention sessions are in that same spirit. So, the physical punishments aren't so severe that they would interfere with people who have work or childcare or other responsibilities later tonight or tomorrow, but there is additional discipline beyond what participants receive in matches with community members.

Basically, I do an introductory meeting with everyone who I'm assigned to as counselor. We have to do a brief video recording... you know, stuff the lawyers and administrators make us do to confirm you agree to the program. Then everyone is assigned to two sessions, one at 6 PM and one at 8 PM, and they're in groups of 3-6 participants and a disciplinarian. Each participant's counselor escorts them to and from the disciplinary rooms and then has individual one-on-one discussions between the two session and again at the end of the evening. I document a record of each person's participation, and then I'm supposed to review the evening at the end and I can provide additional discipline myself if needed. So that's the basics of what I do here. I mean, I'm sorry about the circumstances we're meeting in, but of course I can't promise any special treatment. It's totally up to you what you want to do."

Joy sighed and gave it some thought for a moment. While she was mortified at the idea of her former student having a role in her disciplinary program, he already knew she was enrolled at this point. And she was heartened by the idea that he wouldn't be her primary disciplinarian, from the sound of things.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go ahead with it, then."