Yesterday began as a normal day. I got up at 5:15am as usual. I washed up, got dressed and waited for the call to breakfast which came at just after 6am.
As I entered the “Chow Hall” I saw that mine was the first unit to be called for breakfast. Usually, mine is not the first unit called. I started eating breakfast and then noticed something strange: no other units were being called to eat.
After breakfast I went back to my unit to wait for the 7am “move” so that I could go to work. The “move” call never came. The Commanding Officer didn’t (or couldn’t) provide any information as to why there was no move. Other inmates were all up-in-arms. I got on my bunk and read, figuring we’d probably move at 8am. That move never came either. Furthermore, the CO locked everyone in the unit into their ranges, which meant no access to TV, phones, computers, or the ice-machine.
Lunch was called at 10:00am (very early!). Usually lunch doesn’t occur until around 11:00am. Again, it appeared that mine was the first unit called; no other units joined us for lunch.
Normally on Mondays, I’m off work from 10:00am until 4:00pm, so after lunch, I changed into my workout clothing and waited for the noon move so I could go to the Recreation Center. No noon move. I assumed that there would be no further moves until dinner, so I again read for a while, took a nap and then showered. The next move was called at 4:45pm for the Education workers. It had been previously announced that there would be no evening recreation.
I went to work at 4:45pm and was pleasantly surprised that the move back to the units happened on schedule at 8:00pm.
The reason for the lack of moves and intermittent lockdowns remain a mystery. It seems many inmates here want to know the reason, and numerous rumors are circulating. I’ve been here long enough to know that we generally are not privy to that information. I personally don’t care. It is what it is and I’ve learned to just take things as they come.
The rumors included anything from the cameras were not working, to a fight at the adjacent jail and the need for many of the officers to go there; to a shooting nearby the institution here, and our needing to be locked down to remain safe. This last rumor does have some credence in that there was a story on the local news here about a shooting near the prison.
There are many here (in fact most) who have been here much longer than I have. It seems many of them really get upset when there’s a glitch that develops in our usual routine. Thankfully, I’ve been able to let that all go. I can’t control what happens, but I CAN control my reactions and emotions to those schedule glitches. I’m fortunate that I’ve been able to put this all in perspective. In the scheme of life, a day or days of lockdown or uncertainty about the daily schedule is so inconsequential. I always have a back up plan. I read, do Sudoku or crossword puzzles, nap, or whatever. There are certainly other times in life that are more worthy of my worrying than schedule changes that I cannot control . . . .
