On Pins and Needles

Dinner was over and I went to see what was happening at the “table of normal”. I discovered my new friends were very judgmental of the other inmates. I’m not sure if judgmental is the correct word; however, they did spend a good part of the time making fun of the other inmates. I refrained but I did understand what they were saying. I don’t want to go into a philosophical discussion about the pros (if there any) and the cons of making fun of others. This was their way of passing the time and I also know many other inmates make fun of the table of normal. This is a no win situation – so my best course of action was to remain silent. The inmates at the table are much like me, but I don’t want to get involved in an us and them situation. It is very simple; I stand out in a place like this and I don’t want to exacerbate the problem.

After mail call, I went back to the table and fortunately the poking fun session had ended. I remember a time where I could write an entry for this blog in 20 minutes but ever since arriving in prison, time has gotten considerably longer as have these entries.

The work call arrived and I made my way up to the bus area. The assignment today was in the mountain community of Idyllwild moving cut tree limbs. We had done this a few weeks ago but it is an ongoing project. Some of the trees have been infested with bark beetles causing the trees to die. There is a crew here who is contracted to cut down the dead trees and this is what they had done. Now my crew was headed to Idyllwild to move these cut limbs to an appropriate area. Normally these limbs would be burned in a controlled setting. However, since California has had 20% of their normal rainfall, these controlled burns are prohibited. This meant the cut limbs had to be moved to an area where the contractor could pick them up. The setting in Idyllwild is very nice as all of the homes are surrounded by trees and shrubbery. This is also a negative because if a fire were ever ignited these homes would be destroyed. Hopefully, this will never happen and the CDF is doing all it can to rid the area of dead trees.

The big controversy regarding today’s assignment was we were being joined by another crew. They had one of the recently added Captains who is not a new Captain since he has over 30 years experience. This particular has many inmates in a total uproar. The Captain has transferred from another camp. Incidentally my friend had served time at this other camp and worked for this Captain. It turns out my friend’s 8th grade teacher is this Captain’s mother – talk about a small world! He has a reputation as a hard-ass ~ sorry. I believe in giving everyone the benefit of the doubt so my mind was open. I cannot say this for most of my fellow inmates who seemed to make up their minds before even meeting the Captain. By the way, my friend says this Captain is not so bad. Most of my fellow inmates were on edge, but my crew really didn’t need to worry because our regular Captain was with us. Prior to our assignment, I could overhear the other Captain talking to (not with) the crew. He gave a 10-minute speech and our Captain waited patiently for him to finish. Our Captain did fill us in on this other Captain and it appears the reputation does proceed him. The assignment started and we moved the tree limbs all morning. I tend to search for the least labor-intensive job as I moved the piles of tree limbs only a few feet because this is what was required. Many of my fellow crew members moved their piles a few hundred feet.

We completed the assignment. As the Captains were having a discussion, afterward the other Captain whistled to gather his crew together. This came across as if he was calling his dog. I realized we are inmates, but the Captains I have worked with in the past month have treated the inmates as human beings. This is the first time since I arrived here, I felt like I was being treated like a sub-human or even a dog. A few of my fellow crew members took offense to the whistling and as the other crew departed for the bus they voiced their displeasure to our Captain. He is a very mild mannered man and was caught between a rock and a hard place not wanting to disparage the other Captain. He did go on to say, “I’m not like the other Captain and I wouldn’t whistle at you guys because I can’t whistle.” This was an uncomfortable few minutes for our Captain but he weathered any potential storm.

For the next task, I was given the job of being the traffic attendant. It was my job to stand 50 yards behind the bus and watch for vehicles. When a vehicle approached, I would stop them, warn the crew and then tell the vehicle to proceed slowly. This only happened 4 times in an hour so once again, I received the least labor intense task which was fine by me.

One of the inmates at the table of norm told me about the inmate who’s job it is to clean the bathroom. This inmate paroles in early September and I have watched him closely. He really has a good routine. I am fairly certain I could make this job work well for me but these blogs would get even more boring! I don’t know if I would go for the transfer when this job opens in September, but it is something to think about. I believe it is safer to clean a bathroom than to fight a wildfire, I’ll see.

I was able to see the Counselor after a very long wait about the family visit and found out it was approved on June 12th and I was finally notified today. I will be able to see my family for the regular visits on July 14, 15, 21, and 22 along with being able to spend 3 consecutive days with them from July 17th thru the 20th. I did have to switch the days for my family with another inmate, but I was so relieved that this was all resolved, I went back to my room and just collapsed on my bed.