No more slamming and locked doors
So I went to court the other day and was finally sentenced. They gave me two months instead of three because my previous DUIs were from so long ago. I am so relieved and so ready to leave this jail. No more slamming and locked doors, no more 24/7 hourly observation and the sound of jangling keys that accompany the guards wherever they go, no more psychotic screaming and tantrums at all hours of the night from unhappy and desolate souls trapped in their cells. Away from the fluorescent lights that never turn off and out of this room with walls that are covered with globs of dried up spit. I am ready to go home!
But now that I have only two weeks left I feel like time had suddenly slowed down and I have to try a lot harder to find things to help me stay positive. But it’s the small things like today a guard called me by my first name and it totally startled me and I was amazed that something so simple that we take for granted everyday could feel so good to hear. Being called by my first name made the interaction so much more personal and I was grateful to be able to feel like a normal human being again with an identity and feelings even if it only lasted a moment. [Read full post...]
There's always commissary.
Day to day life is pretty boring when you’re locked up 22 hours a day. Every day starts out when the lights click to bright at 5:30 for breakfast. You get a little bowl of cold cereal, a muffin and some canned fruit or sometimes an under-ripe banana. No matter how many days I’ve been here (it’s been a month now) I still can’t get used to eating at 5:30 in the morning and you’re not allowed to save it for later. After breakfast I try to sleep till lunch, it makes the days feel shorter. Lunch is at 11:30 and then dinner is at 4:30. Weird times I know, and the food is so gross sometimes I don’t even know what I’m eating. I swear they specifically design the meals to torture us with our own farts. Seriously, it’s bad. And there never seems to be enough food to make you full, just enough to get by. But there is commissary. When you have money on your books you can put in weekly orders for things like oatmeal packets, candy bars, chips, popcorn, cookies, tea etc. It’s actually quite an extensive list so you can supplement some of your regular meals. The first two weeks sucked for me because the friend I left money with to put on my books had a family emergency come up and forgot to do it. Her phone also couldn’t accept calls from the jail, which brings me to my next point: most of us rely on cell phones these days and if you’re anything like me you don’t have any numbers memorized. I didn’t know my sisters, my brothers, my girlfriends, nada. So I couldn’t call anyone and with no money on your books they won’t even give you a stamped envelope with paper until you’ve had nothing on your books for seven days.
[Read full post...]
