Every day starts differently and the same. The nightlight glows constant so that count can be conducted throughout the night. At seven a.m. the lights turn brighter and the door makes a loud click and begins opening. The sound of dozens of doors slam into their open position, the general day room lights are bright. Time for breakfast. Never before has the saying “you snooze, you lose” mattered so much. Here, if you are not making your way into the day room, you are not going to eat. No exceptions. Your food goes to the most senior member of your housing unit. When I say most senior, I do not mean the oldest. I am speaking of the person who has been here the longest. Being the most senior person comes with privileges, most importantly is cell choice. Or house as we called it. When you’re new, you are given what no one else wants. Seniority moves you up in the neighborhood. The best houses are the ones with a view. Which seems funny considering the best view is that of the control room. This is the best because there is movement, people moving. Any kind of movement is a reminder of humanity. I stood for hours, day after day starring at the second hand on the clock in the control room, movement. Time doesn’t stop, the world keeps moving. Life continues without you. The majority of any given day includes reading, playing games such as spades, sitting around telling stories, exercising, cleaning cells, watching TV, and writing and receiving letters. I spent a lot of time drawing pictures and making functional artwork. I learned that I could make a glue like substance using coffee creamer. I would get magazines and construct objects from their pages. I once made a table using this method of construction. It was seized as contraband shortly after, it was nice. I would have requests for cards (Birthday, Mother’s Day, etc.) from others and I would be paid in what I wanted, candy bars, cigarettes, and stamps. I would draw roses and hearts, bouquets of flowers, lots of flames and banners.
Breakfast was usually toast and coffee; lunch was a lunch meat sandwich with a fruit or vegetable and kool aid. Dinner was usually a soy based ground beef served a million different ways, a vegetable side, butter bread, and Tea. For those who passed through who had been on the streets or who had simply not had food, this was eating at its finest. It was three meals, served every day at the same time.
The evenings were filled with TV watching. I think I saw every episode of Three’s Company and MASH ever made. At 10p.m. it was lock down time. We went to our cells, the doors closed automatically and the lights dimmed.
The second hand on the clock continued to sweep around, to move.
