Enjoy guys!! This is my first writting, I’m gonna try to get it published 🙂 lemme know what you think.
Cell With a View : First days
Upon walking into Dublin FCI , you find the place deserted. Empty offices, empty yard, a spackling of inmates and staff to fill the massive cavity that is Dublin. I look around…it’s old.
The buildings don’t look too bad, but you get the feeling there’s asbestos in the walls, even before they debrief you on it a month later, during your job training. Yup, definitely asbestos.
The next thing you notice is that while each room has beautiful picture windows, they are painted brown until only the last 12 inches from the ceiling lets in the light. You ask yourself “why would they do that?”. You realize there may be a wild child or two that would flash people, yet you’ve been in other facilities that had windows and you don’t recall it ever being a problem.
You look around. The skylights are painted over. The grass is non-existent. The landscapers rake duck droppings out of the dirt. “They took the sun” you think.
The staff is hostile and standoff-is. You think of the stories you heard of this place, called “Club Rape” by the papers. You realize this is the aftermath.
You ask someone about the particular windows, an old timer tell you the Warden before the one indicted for rape took everything away, that she was worse than the latter…
She had the trees cut down, the benches taken out, the grass let go of and no longer watered. The place used to be very picturesque they say. This same zealous Warden took curtains out of the rooms, and painted the windows, taking the sun. Interesting that all this was taken away before the place exploded. You can only take so much humanity from people before they find a way to take it back.
“What security prison is this?” Minimum, they say. It feels like more. I search out staff to find out how to enroll in programs. I locate a man inside a cramped office labeled “Counselor”. He opens the door and I go to step in.. “Don’t cross that f#@%$-N line!! ” he snaps. I look down and see the duct tape at the bottom of the floor, where the door frame is, and I immediately feel for this guy. It’s not anger, its fear. It must be hard when staff and inmates are both hostile to your job. Everyone is out for everyone. One wrong move and your career is forever tarnished if not destroyed… You pray for them.
The next “moment” you have is during A and O, orientation. It’s held in the chapel starting at 6am going till 10am. They tell you to bring all of your questions. You do. When you get there the first thing you notice is the beautiful wood and lighting, then you see it. You keep looking thinking you must be crazy. It can’t be. Not here. Maybe its a egg you think. You look around to see if anyone else sees what you see. Nobody seems disturbed, yet there, behind the pulpit, there is a huge stained glass window. It looks like a giant vagina. You blink. You chuckle. You recall the Chaplin was also involved in the Club Rape indictment. No wonder, you think darkly, he had to stare at THAT all day long. You can’t stop staring at it, trying to make it make sense, you can’t. You don’t want to be disrespectful, yet its just so odd.
Beautiful strong woman comes to the front. “Welcome to Dublin FCI” she says. “The first thing we are going to do is get you hooked up with a “”Good government job”” …she proceeds to break down the different jobs available on the compound and the benefits involved. She addresses the problem children. Those destined to get regrettable face tats and involved in abusive unhealthy relationships, destined for the S.H.U. for not wanting better for themselves. She challenges us to do better, stand up tall and stand alone, not follow the crowd. I love her immediately. She holds nothing back yet her punches fall gracefully, with class.
She sums it up by telling us to keep it moving, get a good government job, and find one good friend, anything else is trouble she says.
From past experiences you know she’s telling the truth. Welcome to Dublin FCI.
