We've had a week of nasty weather with torrential rains and very high humidity...
But today it is warm and sunny with nearly perfect weather.
As I do every Saturday, this morning around 9 o'clock I headed for the prison's Intermediate Care Program where I go to assist Phil.* He is completely blind, and he's been incarcerated for close to 24 years.
As part of my job assignment, I have to spend the entire morning with Phil. We cleaned his cell and I scrubbed down his desk, locker, sink and toilet with a damp rag and plenty of strong disinfectant. I then threw out his garbage and swept and mopped the floor.
Because Phil is blind, he often spills food all over his desk and floor. His clothes are usually scattered about, too. So, there is much to do as he and I work together to put his things in order.
When I can, I try to talk to Phil about God. He told me that his mother is a devout Christian. Therefore, I know she's praying for him.
Now, however, it is Saturday afternoon, and I am not scheduled to work. Instead, I opted to stay in my cell and write my journal.
Earlier, I finished washing and wringing out several shirts. I am behind schedule with my washing because of this week's high humidity. I wasn't able to wash anything as it would not dry. But with today's nice weather, I decided to take advantage of the situation and wash as much as I could. I do one shirt, or clothing item, at a time in a 2 1/2-gallon wash bucket with warm water and Woolite.
While my shirts drip-dry, another inmate is helping me out by ironing my white dress shirt, which I only wear for church. Under our unofficial barter system, he will usually charge me a box of snack crackers or a package of cookies from our commissary.
The men who do the ironing charge a fee per piece of clothing, and the price depends on what is being ironed. Pants cost a little more than a shirt.
Tonight, I am also scheduled to get a haircut. Another inmate, who has his own barber's kit minus a pair of scissors, will work on me. Before he came to prison, he cut hair for a living.
My barber will set up his chair, which is an ordinary plastic lounge chair, in our dayroom area. He does this most Saturday evenings. His fee per haircut is about $2 or $3, depending on what you want. I get a crew cut, as I don't have too much hair on the top of my head anymore. So, he only charges me the two-dollar rate. This means that when I go to the commissary, I will buy him a jar of peanut butter and a few candy bars, or maybe several bags of Tang.
A cell block barber could make up to ten to twenty dollars per week for himself in addition to the meager wage he gets from doing his official job assignment, which is only about $3 to $7 each week. A good jailhouse barber could make up to five times as much hustling haircuts than he would get doing his prison job of sweeping and mopping floors or serving food.
After I get my haircut, I will take a shower and turn in early. Tomorrow is chapel services all day long, morning, afternoon, and then evening. My Sundays usually begin at 5 a.m.
D.B.
*Pseudonym
As I do every Saturday, this morning around 9 o'clock I headed for the prison's Intermediate Care Program where I go to assist Phil.* He is completely blind, and he's been incarcerated for close to 24 years.
As part of my job assignment, I have to spend the entire morning with Phil. We cleaned his cell and I scrubbed down his desk, locker, sink and toilet with a damp rag and plenty of strong disinfectant. I then threw out his garbage and swept and mopped the floor.
Because Phil is blind, he often spills food all over his desk and floor. His clothes are usually scattered about, too. So, there is much to do as he and I work together to put his things in order.
When I can, I try to talk to Phil about God. He told me that his mother is a devout Christian. Therefore, I know she's praying for him.
Now, however, it is Saturday afternoon, and I am not scheduled to work. Instead, I opted to stay in my cell and write my journal.
Earlier, I finished washing and wringing out several shirts. I am behind schedule with my washing because of this week's high humidity. I wasn't able to wash anything as it would not dry. But with today's nice weather, I decided to take advantage of the situation and wash as much as I could. I do one shirt, or clothing item, at a time in a 2 1/2-gallon wash bucket with warm water and Woolite.
While my shirts drip-dry, another inmate is helping me out by ironing my white dress shirt, which I only wear for church. Under our unofficial barter system, he will usually charge me a box of snack crackers or a package of cookies from our commissary.
The men who do the ironing charge a fee per piece of clothing, and the price depends on what is being ironed. Pants cost a little more than a shirt.
Tonight, I am also scheduled to get a haircut. Another inmate, who has his own barber's kit minus a pair of scissors, will work on me. Before he came to prison, he cut hair for a living.
My barber will set up his chair, which is an ordinary plastic lounge chair, in our dayroom area. He does this most Saturday evenings. His fee per haircut is about $2 or $3, depending on what you want. I get a crew cut, as I don't have too much hair on the top of my head anymore. So, he only charges me the two-dollar rate. This means that when I go to the commissary, I will buy him a jar of peanut butter and a few candy bars, or maybe several bags of Tang.
A cell block barber could make up to ten to twenty dollars per week for himself in addition to the meager wage he gets from doing his official job assignment, which is only about $3 to $7 each week. A good jailhouse barber could make up to five times as much hustling haircuts than he would get doing his prison job of sweeping and mopping floors or serving food.
After I get my haircut, I will take a shower and turn in early. Tomorrow is chapel services all day long, morning, afternoon, and then evening. My Sundays usually begin at 5 a.m.
D.B.
*Pseudonym
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