The Kitchen

It seems all of the dinners have gone downhill ever since the pasta and pizza entrees were served some 10 days ago. Last night’s dinner was no exception, with the main entrée consisting of ham, scalloped potatoes, yams, and lima beans with cake for dessert. Once I saw the menu, I didn’t want to go to the dining hall. Normally, I would go and give my tray to my Bunkie but even he was unenthused with the menu. I decided for the first time to stay behind. Well, that was short-lived. I read one page of CYCLOPS and heard the CO yell over the PA system, “Everybody go to chow; it is mandatory.” There were four of us out of 140 who decided to stay behind. We had to go to the dining hall and were asked why we were late. I waited until someone else spoke up and told the CO that we were not hungry and we all went along with it. The CO nodded and let us in.

When we got our food we gave it away to other inmates. I made someone happy because they took everything off the tray and thanked me. It really was a waste for us to go, but rules are rules and now I know I must go to the dining hall. I guess it has to do with safety reasons and sometimes the CO will go through our dorms for unauthorized items. I am sure he doesn’t want anyone hanging behind during these inspections. At least I learned something and thankfully didn’t get into any trouble.

In the kitchen this morning, I had a feeling it was going to be a challenge. We lost three of our most experienced back kitchen workers due to their transfers. Now I was the one with the most experience in the back. But I was not going to boss anyone around. This is how people get into trouble because there are so many different personalities but most of them don’t do well under authority figures. I was just going to do my assignment and go about my business. When it came out, I was happy to see there were only three inmates, including me, working the ovens. Sometimes there are five or six which are too many. I have worked with one of them before and we get along very well. His last day is Wednesday and I will be sorry to see him go.

There were three items which needed to go into the ovens: coffee cake, oatmeal, and prunes in sauce. They did it again, serving prunes on yard day, but I learned my lesson from the last time. When the oatmeal was finished cooking, I needed the area to prep for service. I pushed over 10 hot pans of oatmeal on the pushcart and looked at the four pans of coffee cake on the prep area and asked the inmate who was helping me if he could please move the trays because I need the area for the oatmeal. His response was, “No.” I didn’t believe I heard him correctly and said, “Excuse me, could you please move the pans?” Again he told me no, so I proceeded to move the coffee cake by myself into the storage container where they belonged. I couldn’t believe he wouldn’t move them. I said I was sorry and started to use the area. I also asked him what his assignment was and he really didn’t know. I told him to check the list and found he was supposed to be on the front line. Apparently, there were problems all morning with this inmate because he didn’t participate in the cleaning of the dining hall when the line service was over. This is a requirement for everyone working on the front line, but maybe he thought he was beyond this. I think the kitchen supervisor fired him after his non-participation in cleaning.

I didn’t lose my cool earlier, but the episode with the inmate certainly bothered me. Sometimes its better to keep quiet and exert yourself at the same time. I never disrespected this inmate which is a big thing in a place like this so he never got angry with me. I was happy with the way I handled the situation and I am sure there will be more of these issues in the next few years.

Also, it seems the kitchen supervisor and I get along very well. I was moving some rags outside when one of the mainline inmates asked her if there was any coffee cake left over. Her response was, “No, I don’t think so.” There were two trays, but they couldn’t be located. After the inmate left, she pulled me aside and told me very nicely that she doesn’t want to give anyone - outside of the kitchen workers – any of the leftovers because it causes nothing but problems, so the next time someone asks the answer is “NO." This may not sound like much, but I was treated like a person and not an inmate which meant a great deal to me.

It appears that we are going to have some transitional pains as the new staff gets acquainted with the kitchen, hopefully, it will only be temporary. Sometimes “too many cooks spoil the stew” is very valid. It seems the less people we have working on the ovens, the more efficient the process is. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

Fortunately, yard day was delayed due to the maintenance workers cutting the grass. This worked out well because we didn’t get back to the dorm until 9:45 and yard day usually starts at 9:00 am. After the grass was cut, we went out at 11:30 and had the full hour and a half.

As I’m jogging, I am getting noticed more which I hope is not good or bad. Since my first yard time, many inmates are attempting to jog. I’m not sure whether it has to do with watching me jog the entire time and asking how many laps I do or maybe they see this skinny guy jogging non-stop and think, hey, they can do this, too. Who knows? But it’s funny because they run alongside of me and ask questions such as, “Do you run on the streets? (meaning outside) Do you smoke?” They tell me that they do smoke and usually stop after the second lap.

Selfishly, I would like to think I am being a positive influence on some inmates. However, I am only doing what I know best which is to jog at my own pace and my own distance. If this rubs off on someone else – great – and if not, no big deal. Much like my recovery, I can tell my story but I can’t make anyone enter into recovery. I can only work mine to the best of my ability which is done one day at a time - much like my jogging, which is done one lap at a time.