Today’s Machiavellian Yet Truly Morbid Fact!
In 1937 the chief warden of San Quentin prison in California devised the Spot. Almost Machiavellian in concept, it simply consisted of a circle of grey paint, two feet in diameter, in which the offender had to stand for four hours, twice a day. He was not allowed to move at all, the only relief permitted being a two-minute toilet break, morning and afternoon. Very few prisoners showed any desire to be put on the spot a second time.
Culled from: Rack, Rope & Red-Hot Pincers
That’s just a hardcore, adult version of the Bad Chair, as my mother called it. Ours was just the recliner, usually. You sat in that for five minutes or ten minutes without talking or doing anything till you’d calmed down or she’d calmed down.