Know Who You Work For (#43)

The first question I was asked when I started my job as the recreation clerk was, “Who do you work for?” I didn’t know how to respond. I hadn’t thought about it. The other inmate asking the question, seeing the confusion on my face, rephrased, “Do you work for us, or do you work for the guards.” Well, not sane inmate says that they work for the guards. That would not go over well. His question helped me figure some things out.

I had not thought about who I worked for when I watered the plants at my first job here. Another inmate seemed to be my supervisor, but he didn’t like for me to call him that. His only job was to assign inmates to jobs, not to oversee them. That job actually belonged to a guard. It seemed that I worked for both the inmates and the guards and didn’t work for them at the same time. The guards, or at least the institution, paid me. It was only $.12 an hour, but they did pay me. At the same time the inmates were like the customers. They received the benefits of the work. Most inmates could care less about how their job benefits the other inmates. I guess the reality is we worked for ourselves.

Working for yourself is dangerous. You will only work as hard as your ethics and ambition take you. Because there is little reward for an ambitious person in prison, many inmates do the very least they can. I would suggest if this is where you are in your own job, that you consider a different job. You may get paid, even pretty well. You may hate the work you do (a sign of boredom), or your supervisor, or your co-workers, etc. If working for the customers, in other words, providing exceptional customer service both internally and externally, doesn’t do it for you, then you only have two options. You can cleave and get another job that will probably look very similar to what you left, or you can learn to take pride in your work. I would suggest that taking pride in your work is working for yourself, and is the better option.

If you want to show people that you are competent, confident, and trustworthy, then take pride in what you do. Do it well just so that you can leave the job each day and say, “I did my best today.” It’s a lot like a team sport. Your teammates may not play hard and they may not care about their teammates, but if you play your best, then you’ve done your job. You can leave the field or court with pride.

Working in prison is not easy. Many times while I was watering the trees or issuing the recreation equipment (more often than not I was looking all over the yard for stuff that wasn’t returned) I only had my pride in a job well done to get me through.

Another way that I endured a tough job was my belief in God. As a Christian I believe that our actions reflect who we are in relationship to God. I worked hard in part because I was also working for God. In essence, I felt like He was my boss. I didn’t want to let Him down by knowingly doing a poor job. This is part of what gave me pride in my work. It also helped me to accept that other inmates weren’t going to do a good job.

Some inmates take pride in their work without having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I’m glad that they do. Some Christians don’t take pride in their work and it bothers me. I wish more people, not just inmates, would work hard, show patience, and be slow to anger. For me, I can only accomplish this through my faith in Christ.

Jeff

Lexicon (#42)

I'm quite a bit behind on the blog updates. I apologize. I'm not sure who is reading these nowadays and people don't write Jeff and comment on them, so I have been busy writing Jeff letters instead of updating. But, I promised Jeff I would update his blog, so I will try to do that. This is a blog that Jeff wanted to put in that doesn't fit in any category. It's a bunch of terms that the prisoners use that he thought were amusing.


Superpathologicalexpialapurgerus (adj.) - a derogatory term to describe a Federal agent.

"The agent on my case testified that I had 10 times the amount of dope that I actually had. He's a superpathologicalexpialapergerus jerk."


Rec (v) - to exercise or play sports

"It's a nice day. Are you going to rec while the weather is nice."


Next Door (n) - the low security prison next to the camp.

"I spent three years next door."



The Bubble (n) - The main control room at the low security prison.

"Before we go out on our crew we have to check in at the bubble."




Visitor (n) - An inmate who has a really short sentence.

"You've only got three months. You're a visitor."




The Hole (n) - Segregated housing unit (synonym - "the Shu")

"You shouldn't take food out of the chow hall. You could go to the hole for that."




Roll Up (v) - When the guards come and pack up you property and roll up your mattress.

"The guards came and rolled up Dave. What did he do to end up in the hole."




Pill Call (n) - The process of getting your medication.

"I have to go to pill call at 5 to get my allergy medicine."



Truck (adj.) - Really bad at sports.

"Did you see him drop that fly ball? He's a truck."



Beast (adj.) - Really good at sports.

"Did you see that shot he made? He's a beast."



Short (adj.) - Having only a few months left on your sentence.

"I just hit my 3 month mark. I'm short."




Waterfront (n) - The living cubicles that are close to the bathroom (synonym - beachfront).

"After my time in the hole they put me on the waterfront."



Beverly Hills (n) - the living cubicles in the back of the dorm with windows.

"It took me 9 months of living on the waterfront, but I finally got to Beverly Hills."



Store (n) - Commissary, the place we can shop for ourselves.

"I bought some chicken at the store because I can't stand eating at the chow hall."

Retardadorium (n) - The prison camp.

"You meet some odd people at the retardadorium."

Keaster Bunny (n) - someone who smuggles stuff into the prison.

"Where did you get that stuff? What are you, the Keaster Bunny?"

Rack (n, v) - Cubicle or specifically your bed. Also, the act of going to your cube.

"It's count time. Rack it up!"

Skittles (n) - Pills

"I have to go to pill call to get my skittles."

Feed The Warden (v) - Using the restroom.

"Do you have any toilet paper? I have to feed the warden."

Car (n) - A group of guys who cook together.

"Is there going to be a taco car for movie night?"

Driving The Car (v) - The person who is actually cooking.

"Who's driving that taco car on movie night? I want to hitch a ride."

Shot (n) - A disciplinary action.

"I got a shot for gambling."

ITF (n) - Inmate Task Force or an inmate who thinks he's a guard.

"That guy sure talks to the guards a lot. I think he's on the ITF."

Resident Psycho (n) - The strangest person in your dorm.

"That guy might just be the new resident psycho."

Squirrel (v) - To hide contraband.

"I squirreled the weights in the sand by the horseshoe pit."

Day Pass (n) - A 16 hour furlough.

"I finally got my day pass after 18 months here.

Rabbit (v) - To leave the camp without a release (synonym - walk away)

"I heard a guy rabbited last night."