Friday Night Fights

While I waited for the unlock, the talk in the dorm again centered on resolution for the overcrowding issue. Apparently, someone heard an interview with the head of the very powerful CO Union who stated that this resolution is very disappointing. I thought this was a very surprising comment from this individual because now his membership will continue to grow and prosper. However, this person went on to talk about sentencing reform along with parole reform which was not addressed in the resolution. I do agree that the problem has not been fixed and I wonder what is going to happen in two years when the additional beds are at capacity and the overcrowding is even worse than it is now.

After I ate, I heard the alarm go off outside. I went over to the window to see if it was another false alarm. I would say 90% of these alarms are either false or have nothing to do with my yard. Well, this alarm was in the 10% category as I looked out the window to my left where I saw a group of inmates fighting. I watched for a minute and then I heard a loud “pop” which was the CO in the tower shooting at the inmates who were fighting. These guns are called “block” guns and shoot blocks of wood. They are not meant to harm any of the inmates; they are meant to get their attention. This one “pop” did get their attention as just about all the inmates stopped and went to the ground. Apparently, I was late to look outside as the “good stuff” happened before I looked out.

A group of about 35 inmates started their own “Friday Night Fights” out in the yard right in front of one of the towers. My first thought was “I sure hope my race wasn’t included.” Heck, this was my only thought, sorry. I didn’t want to go on lockdown because there is only so much exercise I can do inside. I did have a second thought which was – this was the first real fight I have seen in my six months here. This is certainly a good thing and the fact I was safely in my dorm when it occurred also helped. It took the CO’s an hour to sort everything out. This meant the inmates who were not involved but were outside had to stay down on their stomachs the whole time, not a very comfortable position for 60 minutes.

As the CO’s sorted everything out, everyone watched as we all wondered which races were involved. It appeared mostly all of the races except for mine were involved. I did breathe a sigh of relief but it looks like it is back to the “control feeding” for breakfast and dinner which will further delay matters. Also, yard time for the weekend is in question for everyone. I am hoping to have yard Saturday morning so I can call my family, but I learned a long time ago any telephone call I get is a blessing. If it doesn’t happen, there will be another call at another time.