Jails and prisons are not known for their hospitality, luxury, comfort, convenience, or aesthetics. They are utilitarian facilities designed for security, control, functionality, and durability. The compound consists of a secure perimeter designed for controlled entrance and egress. Razor wire, cameras, notion sensors, officer patrols on foot and by vehicle, inspections, metal detectors and body searches are the basis of security on the perimeter. Prisons in many ways are based on the military model. The difference being the focus on keeping inmates in.
Category: Warehouse of Lost Souls
Phone Tag
Communication with friends and family in the free world is very important to those serving time in prison.
Pavlovian Response
The bottom line is the bottom line, food costs money. The goal is to feed an inmate for $1 a day and has been for years regardless of inflation. When buying the cheapest food isn’t enough food service management will do whatever it can to contain costs, even cut corners. I suspect that Pavlov’s dogs wouldn’t have salivated in anticipation of a meal at the MDOC.
Parole Violation
Committing a crime while on probation or parole is a violation of its terms and even if you weren’t in prison before as part of your original case you can still end up there. The problem is that you don’t have to actually be convicted, just having police contact is enough to set things in motion.
Over Due
For me one of the real sanity savers in prison was the General Library. Every week I had a call out to the library for a 30-minute vacation.
One in A Million
Whether you believe in fate, karma, luck, or Jesus one thing is certain. Some people will walk out of prison like Daniel from the lion's den or the 3 Hebrew boys from the fiery furnace. And it probably won’t be the ones that you might have picked going in. Everyone responds differently to prison.
Motel 6
Prison and county jails for many are like a rat’s maze that is difficult to navigate, full of many dead ends, and all the exits seem to lead right back in.
Laundry Dis-Service
The standing joke was that laundry came back dirtier than when it was turned in. I proved this once by turning in a brand new white tee shirt and it came back gray. Leaving one to wonder if the laundry had been washed with the rag mop heads.
Keystone Cops
Where ever there are inmates there will be COs watching over them, often times directly, at other times by surveillance camera. At least that is the theory, however the reality of the situation is not so straight forward.
DWH
While prison is a dangerous place and several inmates are killed by other inmates on an annual basis, for the 95% of inmates which will likely receive parole, the fear of dying in prison is more likely related to a medical issue such as a heart attack or cancer.