Just as inmates have their little, seemingly insignificant rules, but actually very important rules, so the institution here at Taft has it’s own little rules that a man ignores at his own peril. If breached, one finds out quickly that there are consequences for the slightest infraction.
I had probably been at the camp for about a month when I discovered the severe consequence of not following a little institution rule. The rule, which I knew about from one of my first days here, is that an inmate must have his shirt tucked into his pants from 8 am to 4 pm (the prison’s operating or business hours). I had been working in the Rec. yard and was getting hot (Taft is pretty warm, and this was in May). I went back to the dorm to change. I was in a hurry and forgot to tuck in my shirt on my way back out. I probably took 15 steps out of the door before I remembered that I hadn’t tucked in my shirt. A guard was coming toward me and noticed my un-tucked shirt and accosted me about the infraction. The guard asked me for my card. I told him my card was in my locker. I was quite fortunate that I had left my ID card in my locker because he let me go without incident. Ironically, another rule, which I have a difficult time remembering, is to keep your ID card with you at all times. So, somehow I got away with violating one rule by violating another. That’s the way prison is sometimes: nonsensical.
Usually the punishment for not tucking in your shirt is extra work duty. The idea of extra duty is humorous because if every inmate did his job you would have nothing extra to do. The prison would be immaculate. I think about 1/3 of the inmates do no work whatsoever. So, rather than punish the guys who don’t work, they guys who forget to tuck in their shirts do the jobs of those guys who don’t work. It’s similar to the outside world. Still, it makes little sense to me.
Another rule that we need to follow here is that we are required to wear pants around the compound between 8 am and 4 pm. Failing to wear pants during this time can result in various disciplinary actions from a “shot” (a basic derogatory statement on your record), to not being allowed to eat. The punishment depends on where you are, what you are doing, and which guard catches you. If you go to work in shorts, you could get extra duty or a disciplinary “shot” depending on the guard. If you go to the chow hall in shorts, you probably will be send back to the dorm to change.
One of my favorite nonsensical rules is the prohibition from walking on the grass. I don’t know what the consequences would be if the rule were breached. The grass isn’t particularly nice, and I have seen inmates walk on it from time to time. I haven’t seen anyone punished for the infraction yet. Actually, very few inmates walk on the grass. So, the penalty must not be worth the infraction.
Another seemingly insignificant rule that has mild to severe consequences is that one must stand during the standing count. I’m not sure why we have to stand. Some guys think it is to make sure we are still alive. I think this is the way it’s always done, so it has become habit. We stand because as far as the guards know, we have always stood. The reason is no longer relevant. I personally think it is just another way to dehumanize the prisoners. My dad allegedly violated this rule in his first few weeks in and had to do extra work duty. He and his bunkies claim he was standing the whole time. My dad got a mild punishment. You can get thrown into the “SHU,” the segregated housing unit, for not standing. It mostly depends on the guard, and the mood they are in. If you argue with the guard when you weren’t in your cube or asleep, you could get sent to segregated housing. This is usually the punishment for the guys who have been around. The newer guys, like my dad, get extra duty.
I’m sure most of these rules seem petty. They are, for the most part. However, learning and following the rules are part of the learning process every inmate experiences, and since we are here for not following society’s rules, it’s probably a good thing. If I had followed the rules at my job, I wouldn’t be here. These rules are easy to follow. Tucking in one’s shirt is not complicated, but it does make a guy be part of a system and requires humility. You feel like a child being told to tuck in your shirt, or to stay off the grass. But, for the guys here who couldn’t be trusted with bigger rules, it’s a good place to start (even if the guards sometimes abuse their authority).
The little, insignificant, petty, arbitrary, and sometimes meaningless rules are still important. They are the easiest to ignore, bend, and break. Sometimes we break them so frequently that we forget a rule even exists. I’m continually reminded that my character and integrity start with the little rules in life. It might be a rule at work, such as “don’t leave the computer on when you leave.” Maybe it’s a rule at home, “never leave the toilet paper role empty.” These rules are there to show who has integrity and the respect for others. Those that do will follow the rules, even if doing some requires humility.
In prison, it’s easy to spot the selfish people. I have pointed this out before, but all one has to do is look at the rule breakers. Who cuts in line? Who walks on the grass? The inmate that doesn’t respect the institution with simple rules won’t respect the other inmates either. If you can’t trust someone to follow a simple rule, why would you trust them as a co-worker, partner, supervisor, or spouse? You can’t.
Jeff
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Little Rules (#35)
As one begins to become more acclimated to prison one starts to pick up on more of the subtle rules. There are rules as innocuous as how to make one’s bed. The prison handbook says your bed has to be made by 8 am. The dorm orderly, an inmate, determines what the correctly made bad should look like. The reason an inmate determines this is based on the weekly inspection. Either our dorm, or the dorm orderly, looks better to the guards if all the beds are made the same way. The guards who inspect the beds call this look “clean.” I was not making my bed correctly and I was subtly told to fix that. I wasn’t told how to make my bed “correctly” but I figured I should make it look like everyone else’s bed. For those who are curious to know how the prison bed should be made, you basically take the blanket that substitutes for a comforter and stuff it in the metal frame. The blanket then wraps around your mattress nice and snug with no ends hanging out. I think this is how they make beds in the military, but I wouldn’t know. Actually, if you go to a hotel an take the comforter off, that is what the prison bed would look like, except much smaller.
Another little rule I discovered was where to take a shower. I know, you think this would be obvious. But there are rules for this simple task as well just about everything we do. Our shower room has 8 shower stalls on each side. The stalls are lined up perfectly across from each other. If you stand with the water hitting your back, you would be looking directly into the stall across from you. We do have chest high doors, but I’m 5’6”, so the door isn’t higher than my chest than for most. Needless to say, it’s very annoying when someone is in a shower stall directly across from you. To avoid this, the rule is to take showers only on one side. Typically, new guys learn this in two ways, either by observation, like I did, or from various belligerent comments like, “Hey pervert, why are you watching me take a shower.”
There are a lot of rules about personal hygiene. The whole process of washing one’s clothes has rules. Keeping one’s cubicle clean has a set of guidelines. I typically don’t mop my cubicle as much as some other guys, but as a generic rule you should mop at least once a week.
The subtle little rules aren’t limited to hygiene. One good rule to follow is “don’t be the first person out of the door and the last person back in.” Obviously, someone has to be first, and someone has to be last. But, you don’t have to be that someone, or at least regularly. The guys know the system. Most of us don’t want to know when the yard is open because we are on a first name basis with the guard. The majority of inmates, if they want to avoid trouble, should wait until someone else goes out and get back to the dorm before a guard notices that you are last.
Another dorm rule that is of extreme importance is to never change the television channel. Again, leave this for the guys who have been around a while. Oddly, you can sit in someone’s chair (I wrote about how you get assigned chairs in an earlier blog), at least at our camp, anyway, unless they want to use it. Every inmate gets a chair. These are usually in your cube. The tv rooms have no chairs. If you want to watch tv, you have to bring your chair. The chairs are marked with your bunk assignment. Lots of guys leave their chairs in the tv rooms for several days. So, if a chair is empty, you can use it. However, don’t try putting your chair in a reserved tv room during movie night. That will get you in trouble just like changing the channel will. Strangely, with this fascination with tv rules, one would think that talking during a movie or tv show would be taboo. It’s not. I don’t get that one.
Most of these little rules seem petty, and they are. But, the bigger rule that encompasses all of these petty rules is that the little things matter. I’ve mentioned this a few times, and I think it’s because it’s a lesson I didn’t learn that got me here, and once I got here, I learned that people watch how you respond to the little things. Following even the most ridiculous of rules still shows what kind of person you are and how other inmates view you. One of the things the inmates here hate the most (besides a rat) is an inmate who thinks he is above the system, because he is better than the other inmates, or doesn’t believe that he is a criminal. By not following the simple, but oftentimes, petty and silly rules, the inmate portrays a self-righteous attitude that such pettiness does not apply to him. Such an inmate doesn’t get too many friends.
So, the little things matter in life and in prison. The little rules I discussed are handy for interpersonal relationships with other inmates. There are other rules that the institution places on us that are important to follow too. I’ll discuss these in the next installment.
Jeff
Another little rule I discovered was where to take a shower. I know, you think this would be obvious. But there are rules for this simple task as well just about everything we do. Our shower room has 8 shower stalls on each side. The stalls are lined up perfectly across from each other. If you stand with the water hitting your back, you would be looking directly into the stall across from you. We do have chest high doors, but I’m 5’6”, so the door isn’t higher than my chest than for most. Needless to say, it’s very annoying when someone is in a shower stall directly across from you. To avoid this, the rule is to take showers only on one side. Typically, new guys learn this in two ways, either by observation, like I did, or from various belligerent comments like, “Hey pervert, why are you watching me take a shower.”
There are a lot of rules about personal hygiene. The whole process of washing one’s clothes has rules. Keeping one’s cubicle clean has a set of guidelines. I typically don’t mop my cubicle as much as some other guys, but as a generic rule you should mop at least once a week.
The subtle little rules aren’t limited to hygiene. One good rule to follow is “don’t be the first person out of the door and the last person back in.” Obviously, someone has to be first, and someone has to be last. But, you don’t have to be that someone, or at least regularly. The guys know the system. Most of us don’t want to know when the yard is open because we are on a first name basis with the guard. The majority of inmates, if they want to avoid trouble, should wait until someone else goes out and get back to the dorm before a guard notices that you are last.
Another dorm rule that is of extreme importance is to never change the television channel. Again, leave this for the guys who have been around a while. Oddly, you can sit in someone’s chair (I wrote about how you get assigned chairs in an earlier blog), at least at our camp, anyway, unless they want to use it. Every inmate gets a chair. These are usually in your cube. The tv rooms have no chairs. If you want to watch tv, you have to bring your chair. The chairs are marked with your bunk assignment. Lots of guys leave their chairs in the tv rooms for several days. So, if a chair is empty, you can use it. However, don’t try putting your chair in a reserved tv room during movie night. That will get you in trouble just like changing the channel will. Strangely, with this fascination with tv rules, one would think that talking during a movie or tv show would be taboo. It’s not. I don’t get that one.
Most of these little rules seem petty, and they are. But, the bigger rule that encompasses all of these petty rules is that the little things matter. I’ve mentioned this a few times, and I think it’s because it’s a lesson I didn’t learn that got me here, and once I got here, I learned that people watch how you respond to the little things. Following even the most ridiculous of rules still shows what kind of person you are and how other inmates view you. One of the things the inmates here hate the most (besides a rat) is an inmate who thinks he is above the system, because he is better than the other inmates, or doesn’t believe that he is a criminal. By not following the simple, but oftentimes, petty and silly rules, the inmate portrays a self-righteous attitude that such pettiness does not apply to him. Such an inmate doesn’t get too many friends.
So, the little things matter in life and in prison. The little rules I discussed are handy for interpersonal relationships with other inmates. There are other rules that the institution places on us that are important to follow too. I’ll discuss these in the next installment.
Jeff
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