1) I am putting on my economist’s hat for this next topic: Given that Unicor’s cable production facility has announced that they are shutting down in the next 3-6 months (will probably be less than 3 months), there is somewhat of a “recession” in the prison economy here in Lexington. About 120 people will lose their jobs (about 10% of the inmate population here). There are not enough jobs for all of these individuals and the orderly/food service/facilities maintenance jobs that are available pay significantly less than Unicor, so a bunch of people are “tightening their belts” now. There are not as many purchases at commissary, either because people don’t have as much money or are expecting less in the future, and people are more careful about their consumption in the evenings and on weekends. You see more trading than usual as people jockey for what they want vs. what they wanted before their announcement (for example: a needed soup is now desired more than a luxury candy bar). The guys with prison hustles don’t earn as much as before because guys are not as willing to pay up for goods & services, so they are not spending as much either. The funny thing is, that the hustlers are now asking more for their G&S to try and keep their monthly income steady in the face of lower demand, which isn’t going to happen. It is really interesting to see. I am seeing the “sticky price” aspect of pricing I remember learning about in one econ class or another – prices need to come down, but are hanging on to their previous level as long as possible.
2) Last week a guy asked me if I could lend him a soup and he would cover me next week in commissary. I know that he is relatively destitute with no outside help. My cellmates told me not to give it to him because I would never get paid back. I decided that if I cannot give a guy a cup of soup worth 90 cents (and I can afford to do it), then what kind of person am I. I gave him the soup and also gave him about 10 allergy pills once when he was sniffling & sneezing. Weird thing is that his three siblings are all in law enforcement, so when he came here, they disowned him.
3) You don’t get coffee in the chow hall. You have to make it in your own unit. Just last week, I was able to buy a little honey bear full of honey – the first time I got any honey since I got here in early January. I LOVE honey, so it was a nice surprise and gives a little more sweetness to things. I normally don’t go to chow for breakfast, choosing to eat my oatmeal in my own room to save time. For some reason, I went this morning. They had a cinnamon roll on the tray. I ate my meal, but snuck the cinnamon roll out in my jacket (many people sneak things out – normally I don’t and just eat my food in the chow hall). When I got back to the unit, I made a hot cup of coffee, put a little honey on my cinnamon roll and sat in the small ray of sunshine that was just starting to come in my room from the sunrise – just to feel a little bit normal. Kinda like sitting in the window at home, having coffee & a donut and contemplating my day before going to work. I now know a little bit more what Andy Dufrane felt like sitting on the roof of the prison, drinking a cold beer with his buddies on a hot summer day in the movie Shawshank Redemption. It really put it into perspective.
4) I am at 300+ words in Spanish and it is increasing more each day. The Spanish class is like drinking from a fire hose. We have 3 more classes and when it is done, I am going to try to find some Spanish speaker who wants to improve his English and try to have 2 hours per week of private conversation with him so I can learn more Spanish & he can learn more English.
5) My friend Mark went to the hospital with his lung condition on Tuesday morning. I said last night “I hope he doesn’t come back too soon.” One of my cellmates took it the wrong way and assertively asked why. I said “so he can stay in a comfortable hospital and get the care he needs.” “Oh yeah – that is good” was his reply. I hope they are giving him chemo after extracting the extra liquid so that he gets cured instead of just treating the symptoms by draining the liquid every few days.
