Green Beans

Dinner time is roughly between 5:45 pm and 6:00 pm everyday. Last night was no exception, as we gathered to take the 10 steps to the “chow hall” right next door. I believe I have explained the “chow hall” in the past but I will give a refresher for the eating side instead of the serving side. Each table in the chow hall has four seats which are stainless steel as is the table. The inmates get their tray from the windowless window, move to the coffee or water section, then on to the tables. It is very orderly because as the inmates go to the tables the C/O’s direct the traffic. They start from the far end near the entrance and work back towards the kitchen. Each row is filled in and there is no cutting in line.

With that stated I always go with my Bunkie and the “normal” inmate. I always stand behind my Bunkie and in front of the “normal” inmate. This way at least two of us will get to sit together. Sometimes one of us is separated and sits with three different inmates. Last night I did stand behind my Bunkie but the normal inmate was ahead of us in line by six people. It is obvious why my Bunkie stands in front of me; I give him my meat and he gives me his vegetables and sometimes potatoes. Tonight was hamburgers and I know my Bunkie was looking forward to having a double hamburger.

As it turned out and even though I was standing behind him, he sat at one table and I sat at another table, this was the luck of the draw. Normally this would not be a problem when trading our food; however, tonight my Bunkie was at the end of one row of tables and I was at the beginning of the next row. This means we were across the chow hall from each other so trading our food was impossible. It was impossible because no inmate is allowed to get up during chow until instructed by the C/O. This has happened once before and it really isn’t a big deal because I usually end up making an inmate happy by giving away my meat.

I did give away my hamburger meat in exchange for some green beans. Normally I would trade for the baked potato but I really wasn’t very hungry this evening. I did make a fellow inmate happy and we proceeded with our chow. As we were eating a green bean came flying into our table and hit one of the inmates who was an older gentleman (around 60 years old) and then another which hit someone else at my table. We really weren’t sure where the green beans were coming from but we all had an idea. After these two green beans hit the two inmates at my table, two other green beans hit two more inmates sitting directly behind us.

Before I go any further I need to explain the racial seating preference. The three major races take turns as to who goes first and tonight was the “Southsiders” (Mexican descent) followed by the “Woods” (whites) followed by the African Americans (Blacks). The tables behind where I was sitting and where the two other green beans had hit were African Americans. This wouldn’t be too bad if the green beans were thrown by two “Woods” (whites).
It was okay that the two “Woods” hit the table I was sitting at because we were all “Woods”, however, two idiots who were drunk (yes, they get drunk here, remember my post on “pruno” well they were drunk on this stuff) decided it would be “cool” to throw their green beans.

Please remember I am in the best possible dormitory here at the Reception Center because we are all over the age of 35 and the politics are minimal. However, there are 138 inmates in this dormitory and there are bound to be a few “yahoos” no matter their age. Well these “yahoos” who were drunk almost incited a race riot. I am happy to report almost because cooler heads prevailed. Thank goodness for maturity or I really don’t want to guess what would have happened.

As we got back from chow I was getting “schooled” by my bunkies and neighbor as to the requirements in a race riot. I really couldn’t believe my ears because the discussions were bordering on the ridiculous. Even though I completely disagree with the two “Wood” yahoos and have only the color of our skin in common, yet I would have to take their side. If I don’t take their side I would be breaking one of the cardinal rules of prison which is all the individual races stick together. I did voice my opinion to my Bunkie and neighbor but what it comes down to is rules are rules.

Thankfully, nothing happened nor did I believe anything was going to happen because there are many inmates in the dorm who are over the age of 50. One of the last things any of these inmates want, including me, is to have a racial riot. I do understand these things happen and I need to be prepared; however, as I have mentioned all along my first priority is to my wife ad children so I must stay safe and be strong. Yes, things happen in a place like this but for the most part prison is very tedious and the biggest problem is boredom. I am aware of the many prison movies and television programs but the reality of it is there are many more boring days than the “exciting” days which the movies and television programs glorify. I have heard some stories but optimistically my next stop will have more inmates (just like this dorm) who are interested in doing their time and getting out rather than honoring some arcane code.

What would a daily blog entry be without a kitchen story? This morning just like the last three weeks I got the 3:45 am wake-up tap on the leg. I have been debating whether or not to take today or tomorrow off. I decided to go in today because there were (again) three hot entries; cracked wheat, scrambled eggs, and French toast which were all prepared in the ovens. Today is also one of the days off for the regular kitchen supervisor and her fill-in isn’t nearly as organized. However; for some reason I felt an obligation because the French toast is a pain because is burns easily and no one else had ever prepared it. I did go in and it was less hectic than yesterday but I had another quasi-incident with our fourth oven worker. This was a different inmate from yesterday but I had the same type of problems. This inmate disappeared and couldn’t be found for quite sometime.


I learned my lesson from yesterday because when he resurfaced I asked him where he was and if he could help out with the French toast. He gave me some excuse as to being in the bathroom and not being able to get latex gloves from the C/O so he couldn’t help out with the ovens. I let it go and we managed to get everything out without incident. I do understand discretion is the better part of valor and I was extremely discrete. I also know to pick my battles and this certainly was not one of them. In fact there are no battles here to even be won especially when you are dealing with such diverse personalities.

After work was over I returned to my dormitory to do my regular workout routine. After the workout I headed for the cold shower (yes, the showers are still cold, hmm I wonder if I will get to see my counselor before the hot water is turned on or will it be reversed, or will I never see my counselor and will the hot water never be turned on….hmm) where I took yet another “bird bath” and then I spent the rest of the afternoon corresponding with my wonderful friends. I am very fortunate to have so many exceptional people in my life and I am forever grateful.