Participating

Last night my name was called over the loudspeaker. I had no idea what was going on but unlike when I first arrived here I would get nervous when I heard my name called. However, last night I walked casually up to the office. When I arrived I was asked if I had ever worked in the “Canteen” (which is the store where we go once a month for certain items). I was certainly willing to give it a try. The next thing I knew I was working side by side with my roommate who was the one who recommended me to help him run the “Canteen”. I was thrilled to help because this was a big form of participation. My roommate gave me a quick run down of what I needed to do and then I was off filling orders. The Canteen works very simply; we fill out an order form and that order is then placed in the Canteen. There aren’t any substitutions nor any shopping at the window. It is a quick efficient system.

My job was to take the order form and fill the orders while my roommate worked the window. Obviously, no money changes hands as it all comes off the inmate’s books. I would take the order form along with a milk crate and put the items in the crate and when I was completed filling the order I would place the form in the milk crate as well and then slide it to the front where my roommate would checkout the items to the person. The hardest part (and believe me none of it was hard) was locating the items in the storeroom quickly. I did well as I only made one mistake which was filling root beers instead of the Pepsis. I thought that was very good but on the other hand my roommate was having a hard time zeroing out the orders. This wasn’t working last night and after the fourth non-zero balance I was asked what I did for a living before I came to prison. My response of an accountant was met with a smile and I was told next month I could help my roommate with the additions on the order forms. This was only a joke but I did feel good to be a part of something.

I worked non-stop for 3 straight hours pulling items for the orders. The evening flew by and the next thing I realized it was 9:00 pm. It was an exceptional evening and I was tired when we were finished. I thanked my roommate profusely for including me and he thanked me for helping. This may have been the hardest I have worked in a very long time and it did feel refreshing.