
The Trip- Chapter 18
Sunday December 18th 2016
“Keep, Walking out”
I cant wait until I never hear this combination of words ever again.I still don’t understand why they allow people to come to jail and maintain the intake of illegal drugs. I understand that if they don’t have the drugs, they can become very sick. I understand that. I just don’t believe those people should be in with the general population. They are more of a safety concern to others when they don’t have the drugs. Then, when they have the drugs, they are lethargic and useless.
It 10 A.M and the A- Officer is doing a double. I recognize this officer from the previous housing unit. I know she is doing a double because she normally worked nights upstairs.
I called my wife this morning. I heard a song on the radio last night and it reminder me of her and her mother. They often sing the song together. It made me a little upset because this song has been a staple in my relationship with Stephanie. It reminded me of when we dated in high school.
The person in the bed next to me wants to keep talking while i headphones in. There is nothing more annoying than people interrupting my music. Maybe I’m a bit pretentious because i work in radio but its so aggravating. You’d think headphones being in would be a universal sign for “ Shut-The-Hell-Up-And-Dont-Talk-To-Me”.
I am getting antsy. AK called me a “ Single digit midget”, She said that is a military thing.
I have so much to catch up on when I get home. Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Survivor. I have them all on the DVR. I’m surprised at this point that the DVR isn't full. Unless Stephanie emptied it. Impractical Jokers should be coming back on soon. I believe it comes back on in February. Welcome to the random thoughts of jail. People think prisoners think about deeply impacting and provoking thoughts. That is way wrong. We think about the content of our DVR and what we will watch and have to watch when we get home. We think about what we want to be doing instead of what we are doing. Some people feel this is a meditation to them. Whatever you call it, its keeping me out of trouble.
I miss my own bed. This bed is garbage! The mattress has no padding at all. the “bed frame” is a steel platform about 2 and a half feet off the ground with no bend or leverage. This bed pops and creeks with every movement. It exaggerates every movement and sounds like I’m building a structure on top of it. My neighbor should be leaving within a few days. I may take his spot closer to the window. I guess it depends on what day he leaves. I have 9 days left. I’m not going to make a huge issue about moving. I don’t particularly care.
People are still giving me things. I was handed a new 2 piece uniform and 2 soups. Whats up with this? This totally confuses me. Now people have given me shirts, pants, socks, green jumpers, food and underclothes. These are not keepsakes! I’m not taking any of this shit home. I’m grateful to have extra things in case something gets dirty but i don’t need all this. I feel like they just don’t want to deal with it anymore. So, they give it to me. Or, because I’ll be leaving soon, they know that I’ll give all my stuff away so that i dont have to deal with it either.
I’m hungry. Lunch should be called any minute now. We would have already eaten on the old unit. Not here. We always go to meals so late here. Its annoying. One thing they stress about jail is structure and they can’t even manage a schedule. They use a different program standard on the old unit. They don’t use the same standard everywhere else.
-12:30P.M
The inmates in the day room are watching football updates. They have a football pool going on. They bet commissary against the games. It was made clear tome that this is a low classification dorm. Most people here have what is called a “Classification sheet”. This document classes you by charges, age, sentence lengthen, criminal history over the last 7 years, things like that. I did not get this document. I’m not sure why I didn’t get it but whatever. Most of the other inmates have also had to provide a DNA sample. I am not sure why they had to do that. I believe it has something to do with New York state laws. I did not have to do that either. Maybe because I don’t live in New York.
I hear that is why this dorm is so different. Ya know, the gambling, later nights, football pools, lack of Correctional patrols, because we are in a low security dorm. This is also why we may have to wait so long for meals. They know that we wont cause issues in the mess hall.
I miss my studio. It wasn’t huge but it was mine. Mic, board, laptops, tablets, it was awesome. my lights, flag speakers, and more. It was my little oasis away normal every day nonsense. When you have your own little escape away from the world, it was where i often ran away to. My own creative space where I was able to create and explore my ideas. I produced, commercials, segments, segways, and more. That was my sanctuary. I am so proud of it because I know what success is possible from there and I konw it will only get better.
- 3:30P.M
We just got back form lunch and had to do a count. We have to stay on our beds until the count is completed. They count us several times a day. This time, we have to stay on our beds until 4:30 PM. This is the shift change count and the leaving tour counts as well as the incoming tour.
I can’t wait for all this to be over. I will have the ability to come and go through New York whenever i want and not have to worry about this ever again. I may not even visit Jerry for a while because of this. Because of his letter. I’ve been thinking a lot about what he is doing. Is this what he is going through? Is there some kind of hidden bond between us now?
SBI: 00496734 ( Jerry’s number)& B&C:1411610836 ( my number)
What is he doing right now? How is he doing? Is he staying out or trouble or being an asshole and causing more trouble for himself? That is what they told me the last time I visited him.
I get lost in thought…..
