An intimate first person non-fiction storytelling experience about incarceration in the United States.
Most convicts live month to month on their state pay (a monthly stipend earned from working a prison job). There are jobs for working in food services, the education department, maintenance, recreation, and even in the cell blocks. Everyone here works. There are probably 50 or so different jobs guys can choose from and 95% pay a monthly earnings of $21.00 or less. Think about this for a moment. Twenty one dollars for a month’s work.
I spend alot of time thinking. Most of the time it’s about current events and happenings in my life, but sometimes I find myself thinking back upon the past. I know I’ve said it before, but time has a way of putting things into perspective. My first year incarcerated was a frightful one. I learned through trial by fire how to survive in This World. You either fight to survive or you fold and are swallowed into oblivion behind these walls. That first year was a lonely one for me. Not so much because I had no one here that I could talk to, but because I realized for the first time that family is all that matters in life.
I woke up today to sniffs and licks on my ear from one of the dogs I’m currently caring for. All of them are here for several days as boarders, and there’s nothing more satisfying than to wake to these wonderful animals. I work as an animal trainer in the Staff Dog Program, and as the name implies, each dog is owned by a staffer.
Everything that I have access to is controlled in this environment. I’m told what I can and can’t do, and when I can and can’t do it. I’m told when I can go outside, when I can shop at commissary, eat in the chow hall, go to sleep, and even who I’m allowed to have visits with. The list is long. Continue reading “Captured Clientele”