Whelp, it was certainly not a quiet night. The rowdy bus had visited my wing, which again apparently is known to be quite rambunctious at night. I am comparing my first night to last night which quite honestly was not too disruptive. I was encouraged to see a bunch of felons getting along and having some fun.
Since I’ve been here, I have not witnessed any “illegal” activity, like smoking cigarettes or using cell phones. I guess there is always an exception, while I did not witness any of it, I did smell smoke (perhaps it was a guard :-/ ?). We have a list of disciplinary categories which consist of 4 sections that are ranked from worst offense. Keep in mind this list applies to all federal prisons. The worst offense is killing/murder and pretty much the second worst offense is the harboring or use of a cell phone. Then, of course there are the primal ones of rape, assault with a weapon, assaulting an officer, but it just strikes me as odd that a cell phone is treated as one of the most heinous offenses. If someone were caught using a cellphone or in the position of a cellphone, then they would be immediately quarantined and then moved to the worst federal prison in Hazelton, WV. It certainly is not worth even entertaining the idea of a cellphone, so how do I say this without being so obvious since our messages are used…theoretically, I do not think some guys consider this ramification should they have a cellphone, which theoretically they do.
Today is Saturday, and on weekends, we are able to sleep in until 10:00 am which is not bad since lights are out at 9:00 pm and most of dorm settles about 10:00 pm. Most guys do sleep in, but they still serve breakfast at 6:10 am every morning. I will also do a more detailed list about what the typical schedule is like throughout the week and weekends. I did sleep in today until about 8:30 am, then just showered and prepared for the day. They do call lunch earlier (brunch) on the weekend, which was welcomed.
For lunch, as anticipated, the food seemed to have been cleverly recycled into a new dish, but it was really good, a fried chicken burrito with a fresh pear and the really good salsa again. Other than the higher sodium, the meals are pretty decent. I’m still trying to figure out why half of the guys prefer to make their own food using the options in the commissary than eating this food. It seems like that they will assimilate if they do. Perhaps the guys that refuse to eat at the chow hall are doing so as a means of demonstrating some of the only control that they have. They are able to make a choice, and use other means to provide for themselves…in some sense it is a freedom and control that readily exists.
I wrote a little this afternoon, then watched some of the Saturday football games (without sounds since I do not have the tiny radio receiver yet). After making a few limiting phone calls, and then went to the rec center to watch an indoor soccer game, which rivaled high schoolers playing with 8th graders. Some guys dominated the small field set-up in the gymnasium, and others just tried. I sadly just watched from sideline dreaming of a pair of shoes that would allow me the option to participate or just step foot into the workout room or gym.
It was already dinner time – which again is a bit earlier on the weekends! Dinner was a cold chicken salad sandwich. Again, to sound like a skipping CD, the dinner was really good and served with those Sweet Onion flavored Snyder’s chips that I had on the first day that I checked in. I even commented to one guy that I would have purchased this meal back home. The meal was more of a lunch size, which seems to be the case that lunch is dinner and dinner is lunch. Since I have yet to make it to breakfast, I have not had 2% milk in nearly a week. Breakfast is the only time that milk is served.
Since I had such a productive day (sarcasm), I made a few more phone calls to Drew and Mom, which were abruptly ended due to the awful connectivity issues that they have. I laid down in my nest for about an hour before the 9:00 night count. After the count and lights went out, so did I. Tomorrow, I will investigate the chapel to see what is going on with any Mass or any activity. I have not met anyone Catholic (not that religion is barely discussed), and I have yet to see a schedule of religious activities or times when the chapel is even open.