The Cycle Begins - Yet Different

The temperature reached 83 degrees yesterday afternoon and it is still the middle of March! I understand the East Coast is having a winter storm while I am overheating in the bright sunshine. I intended on calling my wife this afternoon, but as soon as I picked up the phone, I knew it was going to be a bad connection. I couldn’t get my wife and didn’t really have enough time left to call my mother.

The new coach asked me to help his clerk speak with the yard sergeant about the first day of the new PFT class. He wanted to know if early breakfast or regular breakfast was better before the class. He asked me to help because (this is an actual quote from him) “You know how to talk to people.” I guess this was a compliment and I had no problem helping out. The sergeant was not around so we decided to have regular breakfast on the first day and early breakfasts on the subsequent days. I had another interaction with the new coach as I was working out on the Harvard Wall. He came up to me and asked about an inmate who was on the waiting list to become an Instructor. I didn’t have much information but I did know this inmate took the instructor’s test 6 times before finally passing which to me shows very good determination. I told the new coach about this and he decided to give the inmate a try as a temporary Instructor. I thought this was a very good decision.

The mail still takes between 13 and 17 days to reach me. However, I did receive the Time Magazine on a Thursday instead of on a Monday.

The cycle of the PFT Class was starting again but with the new coach I had a feeling it would be very different. Today was Day One and it was the new coach’s first day on this yard. I really shouldn’t make comparisons between the old and the new coach, but I really can’t help it. The old coach was highly organized and made everything seem less difficult. The new coach is not exactly organized and makes everything so complicated. The entire morning was a “bumpy road.” I have given up making any suggestions because they fall on deaf ears.

The old coach truly cared about the well being of the students and I don’t get this feeling from the new coach. And, when he speaks there is a lot of “I” this and “I” that. Also, the new coach likes to confide in me with inappropriate remarks about the old coach and I just nod and say “Oh” over and over again. I sure hope my time here is short and I get the transfer to fire camp soon because I enjoy the exercise part of my job, I’m not too crazy about the “political” part and lack of organization. I enjoyed working for the old coach because he was genuine and I don’t really get that feeling from the new coach. The PFT Class began at 8:00 am and ended at 12:30 pm. With the runs and the calisthenics, the class should have taken 50 minutes and instead, due to the unorganized nature of the coach, it took 4 ½ hours! I know the Instructor position will live on after I am long gone but it is changing with the new coach. I fear it is changing not for the good which is ashamed because the PFT Program is an excellent program if administered properly and the results can be extraordinary.