Moving Down

Yes, I will start out in the kitchen, even though it was uneventful. We had the fourth person who has worked on the ovens in the past and much like all of those times, he disappeared for long stretches. This doesn’t matter because the three of us had everything organized very well and when the fourth did show up, he helped with the cleaning. Every breakfast service that has a hot cereal, and I seem to wind up mixing and serving it. The reason I do this is so I don’t have to go near the egg dishes or the cream/chipped beef dishes which may even gross me out more than the eggs. Finally, the potatoes are very easy and I always let someone else work with them. My crazy mind only lets me deal with the hot cereals, but at the very least, everyone else working on the ovens knows this and has no problems with it.

For the second time this week, oatmeal was served, but this was a rolled oat variety. Each entrée has to be tested by the kitchen supervisor to ensure the proper temperature has been obtained. Sometimes this causes the food to lose its flavor and today some of the oatmeal turned to soup. I had never seen anything like it. When I opened the pan, the oatmeal had turned to brown soup. I would have thought that it would have burnt, but this was not the case. I don’t know how these are prepared before I put them in the oven, but something tells me there was something wrong with the mixture. This had never happened before and I had to throw out two full pans because it would not mix. I did show these to the kitchen supervisor and she couldn’t figure out why this had happened either. Oh, well!

As I was cleaning the oven, the kitchen supervisor came to me and told me that when I get home, I will be so proficient in cleaning; my wife will be very impressed. I laughed and agreed with her and we had a very pleasant little joking conversation after this. Who would have thought that I would become proficient in cleaning ovens, certainly not my wife! I guess I am changing but I will say if I never see or smell a large pot of cream/chipped beef or any egg dish again, I would be a very happy person. I don’t mind the cleaning, actually I enjoy it. I can concentrate on this minor task and think about nothing else which is a very good thing. I did not realize that cleaning could be therapeutic. I should probably erase this last sentence because it will probably come back to haunt me later!

We were instructed to take the eggs out of their boxes and place them into a six-inch pot that has holes all around the outside. We took all the eggs and placed them into 22 six-inch pans in order for the night crew to prepare them. Incidentally, I don’t have a problem with eggs in their natural form; it’s when they’re cracked that my psychosis takes over. Fortunately, these eggs will be prepared prior to my arrival in the kitchen tomorrow. All we have to do is serve them from the pots. I can imagine what the smell will be like when all the inmates start cracking and peeling their eggs (ugh)! I will be very close to the cornmeal the entire breakfast service and hopefully the smell from the eggs isn’t too overpowering.

As is always the case, I came back from the kitchen and arrived at the dorm to start my exercises. Lately, I have been working out with one of my bunk neighbors because it makes the exercise routine more interesting. Normally, I don’t like to workout with anyone else, but this isn’t normal and my bunk neighbor makes a good workout partner. (I will report more on this bunk neighbor in a future posting). As we were exercising, my bunkie’s name was called over the loud speaker calling him to come to the podium so he can speak with his counselor. I was excited for him but a little depressed for myself. I continued the workout and my Bunkie came back to the bunk area with a frown on his face. I was very surprised to see this kind of a look because I thought he would be elated. As soon as he got closer, I asked what the counselor said. He said the counselor told him he was going to a Substance Abuse Program (SAP) to help with his checkered drug addictive past. I said that this is a good thing. He told me he’s leaving right now for C-Yard. This was very perplexing because most inmates are sent to the SAP at other correctional facilities.

My Bunkie has five months left to serve on his 16-month sentence for parole violation. He was very disappointed to be staying here at the reception center. In fact, he felt this was taking a step backward because he just came from the C-Yard before getting into the OG dorm. He was also told that he would be transferred again to another SAP program at a different correctional facility. Again, this is interesting because most of these programs allow the inmates to go to a halfway house four months prior to their release. This would mean my Bunkie would be in the program for one month before going to a halfway house. We were both very perplexed as to why he was being sent to the SAP program after being here almost two months. Why wasn’t this done sooner? I don’t know the answer, but I have a strong feeling it has to do with the overcrowding situation and there just wasn’t any room until now. At the very least, he is entering into a program which will hopefully help him to recover from his addiction. He does understand that recovery programs have initiated a 12-step program in the past so this is nothing new to him. I hope and pray it helps him because he is a very good person who (just like me) let his addictive behavior ruin his life. Now he is being given a chance to take back his life and I wish him the best.

I will miss him, but prison being prison, has taught me not to get close to anyone because this is a temporary situation and here at the reception center, it is extremely temporary. People will come and go each and everyday. I arrived to start my sentence alone and I will be released alone. This does not mean that I am alone because I have worlds of support from my family and friends. This keeps me going each and everyday. I will make it and continue to be a much better person.

I have been fortunate with my bunkies and cellies, especially with the one who left today. We got along very well and I know he enjoyed trading our dinners every night. Now I need to find someone else which won’t be difficult because there already is a long line waiting for my food. I guess my eating habits put me at an advantage especially when it comes to making short-term friends.

There is a bright side to everything – as there is to my bunkie’s departure. I finally get the bottom bunk! I am moving down finally! The bottom bunk was my rightful assignment, but since he got to the dorm first, I gave it up and gave it to him. Now it’s my turn to claim the bottom bunk for the very first time since my sentencing, two and a half months ago. I was getting tired of jumping down in the middle of the night. Now I can roll right out of the bunk to the bathroom!