Table Wipe Guy

Last night was the first time in almost two months that I was a able to eat everything on my tray and I didn’t have to trade one item. The main entrée consisted of pizza and pasta in a marinara sauce along with corn, salad, and cornbread. The pizza and pasta were so bad they actually tasted good. I know that statement makes no sense but hear me out. The pasta was completely overcooked which made it mushy, the pizza was soggy, but I ate both and enjoyed immensely!

I guess everything is relative because this was the first time since my sentencing date on July 12th, I was able to eat pasta. This has been a mainstay of my diet for the past 25 years and it was taken away when I was sentenced. Pasta has been served before, but each time it was served in meat sauce and I inevitably wound up trading it away. Last night’s dinner made my stomach very full. I know I have written about how I eat to live NOT live to eat. With this stated, it was nice to have something I could actually eat without making any changes. There was some comfort in the meal and every little thing counts. Unfortunately, the dinner tonight did not provide much comfort because the main entrée was chili conquistador which I promptly traded away for carrots and bread. It really is okay because while I am working in the kitchen I get to prepare my own food.
This provides me the biggest meal of the day which I believe is the proper way of eating along with grazing on smaller meals the rest of the day. Most of the days I am not hungry for lunch or dinner. Working in the kitchen has been a blessing!

Earlier this week, I have written about how I was the “oven guy”. Well, today I became the “table wipe guy”. The menu for breakfast consisted of oatmeal, coffee cake, banana, toast, peanut butter packet, and milk. Now I hope some of you are asking how coffee cake can be part of a nutritious breakfast because I wondered this same thing. Who am I to argue? There was only one item that required the ovens to be used which was the oatmeal.

A bit of digression – in the last seven days that I worked, I noticed the scheduling for the kitchen staff remained constant at 28 workers, no matter what items were on the menu. Some days, there are food items prepared on the griddle and the ovens. Other days there are only items prepared in the oven, yet the griddle cooks are still scheduled. I guess keeping the staffing level at 28 keeps it simple and in a place like this, simple is always better. Some days there are too many workers and today was one of those days.

Since there was no need for me to help out with the ovens, I was assigned to wipe the tables between breakfast services. This meant I had to sit in the dining hall in the corner. When the inmates were done with their breakfast and vacated the dining hall, I would clean off the tables. I was very leery about this position because when I received this assignment, I asked some other inmates for guidance. I heard what I perceived as horror stories. Along with wiping the tables, I would have to pass any notes or items given to me by the sitting inmates. Of course, my mind went racing into paranoia and the more I thought about it, the more fearful I became. I knew I had to do something to protect myself and to ensure I was not being put into a compromising position. I went to the kitchen supervisor who is an actual employee of the prison system. I had to express my concerns in such a way that it wouldn’t come across as whining.

I approached these two gentlemen in their office and respectfully expressed my concerns.
I think both of them understood. The CO then stated I had nothing to worry about and all I had to do was sit away from the inmates in the corner and follow the two CO’s who are assigned to the dining hall. The supervisor told me the “regular table wipe guy” would be back tomorrow.

All I had to do was empty the garbage cans and wipe the 80 tables. A Quick Aside – as I was preparing for the first service, I set out the garbage cans in a place away from where the table trays were returned as I was instructed by the other table wipe guy. After I set everything out, the CO I spoke with earlier came into check on me and told me to move the garbage cans closer to the tray return. Okay, after I did this, the CO who is in charge of the dining hall came in and told me to move the garbage cans back to where I had them earlier!!! Of course, I followed his directions, but while I was moving them I had a big smile and I let out a laugh. The CO asked why I was laughing and I told him about the instruction given by the other CO. He also laughed. I am here to go with the flow, no matter how redundant it may seem. Hopefully, this will keep me safe and sound.

Now the first breakfast had started and I literally sat in a corner on a bucket and tried my hardest not to make eye contact with anyone. The first service consisted of the mainline prisoners which are level 3 and 4 inmates. This means all of these inmates are at their final stops having been through the reception center. Most of these inmates are serving very long terms. They wear blue shirts and blue jeans or sweatpants. I didn’t have any problems during this service and no one asked me anything. I did notice there were two inmates wearing orange which indicates inmates of the reception center. I thought this was odd because there were well over 250 mainline inmates and 2 reception center inmates. I asked the CO after the service was over why there were two with the mainline inmates. The CO didn’t know exactly but her (?) answer hinted toward the overcrowding problem within the California System.

I can’t imagine being housed with level 3 and 4 inmates who are serving their sentences. I guess there are more and more arriving here at the reception center everyday and they need to place them somewhere. It truly amazes me as to how many inmates there are with more and more coming each day.

Back to the breakfast service~ I didn’t realize there were only a few minutes between services so I had to hustle through wiping the tables down in order to finish before the next group arrived. It was great because I was flying through the tables and then I had to unload the garbage cans. I finished just as the next group arrived for their breakfast service. These inmates were like me who are housed at various dorms and cells here at the reception center. Unlike the first service where I was not asked any questions, the inmates asked if I had any “bags”. I had no idea what “bags” meant so I answered no because even if I knew what they were, I was not going to risk anything. The inmates were a bit put-off, but nothing further was said.

The group finished and it was off to the races wiping the tables once again. I finished a little faster this time and had the garbage emptied before the third and final group entered the dining hall. As soon as all the inmates were seated, the kitchen supervisor came out and told me to go back to the kitchen and eat. I guess he was looking out for me because normally he doesn’t move around a great deal. It looks like my earlier conversation helped. All things considered, it looks like the “table wipe” position went well and the time flew by. I am very happy there weren’t any incidents and hopefully, tomorrow I will be assigned a different position. Even though my paranoia was resurfacing, I did make it through the breakfast service in one piece. Also, my current non involvement in the kitchen gives me some good writing material.

Today (Friday) was “Yard Day” which begins at 11:30 am and ends at 1:15 pm. We were done at nine in the kitchen so we had plenty of time to relax before yard day. It is always hot and dry here. Today was no exception as the temperature approached 100 degrees with very low humidity. I did my jog once again and did 10 miles. As I was running, I noticed only a handful of inmates who were jogging and did no more than 2 miles. I did jog most of the time, but the heat made it difficult. I was able to get into a “zone” and it didn’t matter where I was running because my mind was somewhere else. This is the best part of running; while I run I can put my brain on hold and only concentrate on the run. Again, it felt great and therapeutic at the same time.

In the “It Doesn’t Make Sense” category – one of the inmates who I have become acquainted with (the normal one) saw his counselor today. This is a big step in moving on because no one can move until he sees the counselor. I’m saying that it doesn’t make sense because this inmate arrived three days after me and has the same counselor. They are assigned to the inmates by the last two digits of their CDC number. The counselors are assigned to numbers of groups of 10 and his number ends in 98 while mine ends with 91. It is yet another item in my case which makes me shake my head and sigh! God grant me the serenity… Oh well, hopefully, this means I will see my counselor next week, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t.