It’s early, about 4:00 AM and I am awake, sitting at my desk
with my faithful cup of coffee. Yesterday was work as usual. My work position
here is as a clerk for the inmate counselor. Overall, we deal with 1,100 inmate
case loads and it can be quite a chore. On top of that we manage recreation
activities, program courses; inmate orientation, narcotics/alcohol anonymous,
re-entry class and elective classes; fine arts (basic painting), creative
writing and yoga.
My supervisor, will call him Mr. X, is awesome. He is
retired Navy and very real, genuine. He can be a bit overzealous at times but
he is a good man. Since he is a senior staff, he is also in charge of all
inmate grievances. Believe me when I say it is no easy task. Inmates complain
and grieve everything.
Work is good. It allows me to have a sense of normalcy but
it also very demanding. Clerk positions on prison yards are highly sought after
and, since they have very strict requirements, the greater majority of inmates
are ineligible. I myself have a two man
team. I am Mr. Os lead clerk and then I brought on one of my best friends
Jonathan (who is awesome) and also an OG (original gangster) Jimmy, who I have
known for many years. Together, we are a force to be reckoned with and we have
all our bases covered. Jonathon is white and Jimmy is Mexican. I long for the
day when I do not have to care about what race somebody is!
The greater majority of yesterday was spent playing catch up
since we were off Monday. We got out of the office around 5:00 PM which is
decent. A 12 hour work day is normal here. On the way back to the yard, we went
on ICS (Incident Command System). This means that something has happened and
all inmates must be locked down immediately at their respective housing
locations. You would think that we were being bombed upon sometimes. In any
case, some stupid guy left his cell phone in the bathroom and an officer found
it. Cell phones are not allowed in prison, but ironically, there are 10-12 cell
phones per building though. It is a surreal feeling to walk down the run in
prison and see guys laying on their bunks, talking or texting on their phones.
It is really odd. Cell phones look so foreign to me now….
Due to the ICS, a squad officers came in and searched the dorm
thoroughly. Searches are extremely violating no matter how many times they
happen.
The yard was back to normal operations by 7:00 PM and I had
already showered and settled in for an evening of Top Gear and Master Chef. TV
is the ultimate babysitter!
So it’s early now. All is dark and quiet. My TV is on for
light. Yes, we have our own TVs. Well, some of us do. Nothing is cheap here and
we only get paid $.15 cents, or $.45 cents an hour, in my case. For those who
do not have the love and support from family and friends, things are very
rough! I have a 15” LCD TV. It is considered “high end” because most everyone
still have the original box sets. We get a bunch of channels, so I have no
complaints there. I also have a 12” fan, personal CD player, Oakley sun glasses,
a G-Shock watch and a couple of pairs of Nike Air Max tennis shoes. Some of
these items are not normal but you will find that a lot of the OG’s have relatively
nice things and no one asks where or how they acquired them.
Over the years, the title “OG” has changed its criteria. It
used to require you to have done a lot of street living or had gang
affiliation. The problem was, people realized that even these individuals would
come to prison and not have a clue how to do time. Now, the criteria is that
you must have been locked up for 10 consecutive years, be it jail or prison, to
have earned the title. Whatever. I still feel weird when people call me an
“OG”, but it mostly the babies; 18-25 year olds.
I realized that I am behind on some letters this morning. I
do my best to stay on top of them, but only certain people take priority. Those
people are my best friend Joe, my mom and my aunt Jan. Beyond that, I do have
some random pen pals, nothing serious. Back in 2007, I realized that I was
actually lonely. I took a chance and posted a profile up on a prison pen pal
website. The response was insane. I quickly learned that the majority of guys
reaching out to me were trying to fulfill some kind of prison fantasy. That in
mind, I wanted quality over quantity. It’s been quite a journey thus far and
over time, you will learn about many of them.
Joe was the very 1st person to respond to my
profile and I can honestly say that I never would have guessed that we would
become as close as we are now. He is a big part of my life and has also become
a close friend to my mother as well. I have a love for him that I have never
had for anyone in my life, so if he is what I got out of this entire pen pal
journey, then I am content. We have been on a journey together ourselves as
well. So he is no longer in the pen pal category. He is my family, my friend
and my confidant. In fact, he is also my blog master.
I must make some time to write tonight. Come to think of it,
I need to call him tonight as well.
Okay, it is time to hop in the shower and get off to work.
Hopefully we will have a calm day here in the ‘sand pit’…. We probably will not
be so lucky, so I am kidding myself.
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