Solid Day Of Work

I haven’t eaten a lunch during my “lunch break” since I started working. I will usually have a nutri grain bar and a PB & J sandwich in the mid-afternoon. Yesterday after working out it was time for me to pick up my protein drink which is dispensed through the pill call line that is available three times a day. I receive only one drink and can pick it up at any of these times. However, the lines are always very long - normally 25 to 30 inmates deep. Many are picking up very serious medication for some very serious mental issues.

When I received the drink – “Boost” – it does have 240 calories with 10 grams of protein and many minerals and vitamins. I put in a request asking for one more can per day which would supplement my protein allowing me to have less peanut butter. With two cans, I shouldn’t be as hungry as I have been in the afternoon.

After the evening meal, I finished up a letter and started on a new book called CREEPERS by David Morrell. He is an accomplished author having written 24 fiction and 5 non-fiction books and is the creator of the “Rambo” series which was news to me because I thought they were creations of Slyvestor Stallone. This particular novel is very Stephen King like. I am not a big fan of horror novels but the book is shaping up to be very good. It’s a nice change from the detective series I have been reading for the past five months.

This morning meant it was time for an early breakfast which came at 6:30. A funny comment from one of the CO’s: I noticed the pancakes have been getting smaller and my fellow inmates were complaining about them. The best rebuttal came from a CO who said, “Well, don’t come to prison then.” There was no response from the inmates because what could they say?

As I was leaving the dining hall, I approached the CO who is in charge of guarding the lunches. He is the one who knows me and treats me well. I reached into the milk crate where the vegetarian lunches are stored and pulled the peanut butter and jam lunch. As I pulled it out, another CO who was a sergeant approached me and said, “You got a chrono for that?” That is a permission slip. My reply was “Yes, sir” and I moved on. There was a brief moment when I heard this statement which was phrased very harshly and was not in the form of a question, when I wanted to respond with a smart comment but I certainly refrained. This place does wear on me and underneath it all, I am human with those human emotions. Hopefully, I won’t ever act on these thoughts but I was surprised they did creep into my mind. I do think it had all to do with the tone of the statement and unfortunately there are CO’s who do treat the inmates – me included – like something less than human beings. Also, for the life of I can’t figure out the big deal which seems to surround my vegetarian meals. I really would like to know why there is so much drama since I have been receiving them. Whatever the case I will be mindful of my thoughts and continue to be polite and respectful to all the CO’s because they hold all the power. I do understand my place which is one of an inmate.

It was now on to the basketball court for day two of the PFT class which was actually the first day of the formal class. The lead instructor passed out the assignments which were broken into two teams. He appointed me one of the leads for one team which made me feel very good. This just means I am in charge of the instructors on my team and he assigned me two of the good instructors. This also means I get to do the bulk of the back pacing which I really enjoy. The front pacing is being performed by the instructor who is actually part of the class. The coach wanted this instructor to lead all of the walks and runs without any breaks. Whereas the other instructors (me included) can take various breaks throughout the walks and runs. I really don’t like to take any breaks because I believe the instructors should lead by example and only take breaks during non walk and non run times. Also, I am a little deranged because I enjoy tallying all the miles in the class and don’t like missing any. This is part of my obsessive compulsive working out disorder and I am trying my very best to keep this a positive disorder!

The class went very well for being Day Two mostly due to the fact that over the half the class has been “recycled” from the previous one and knows what to do. The class was over and we had our post class meeting. I kept my mouth shut through most of the meeting because many of my fellow inmates were doing a great deal of talking. It was certainly confirmed by the coach that the administration is dictating all the procedures for the PFT classes. The one positive for the students is the coach won’t be there to administer the test because he is on vacation next week. The administration should be sending a substitute coach to administer the test. If this coach is anything like the other ones all the students should pass. The substitutes are no where near as particular as the coach on techniques so it should be a breeze for all the students. Our coach does have the right attitude when he was discussing all this with us which was his acceptance of the situation. Even though he disagrees with administration he remains professional without a derogatory word.