DannyBoyinExile

It’s funny that I JUST WROTE an essay about being on lockdown for major shakedowns – and here we are, on lockdown for a major shakedown. What’s not so funny is that, after two weeks, it was finally my wing’s day to make commissary again… and we wake to discover that not just us, but the whole state of Texas is on lockdown! (Its prisons, I mean, not the state itself.)
So, there is no ice cream in today’s forecast – but I do have plenty of heat and humidity to look look forward to. Heck – we were looking forward to our BREAKFAST until four in the afternoon! This lockdown was a complete surprise to everyone (staff included), so they had to start from scratch with our sack meals – with no inmate workers to assist them.
I think there will always be a drug problem wherever you house lots of drug users together, because they will FIND a way to get high. But apparently there have also been serious incidents recently (including deaths) due to the drugs – hence the statewide lockdown. I hear guys complaining about “us being punished for something that happened somewhere else”, but I can’t blame TDCJ for trying to get the situation under control – and we were just about due for a shakedown anyway.
The worst thing about these sudden, unexpected lockdowns is that there was no way for the administration to prepare for it. Until they are able to allow some inmates (for example, kitchen workers) to go to work, we can expect our meals to be HOURS later than normal. At one time, I was one of the inmates who would always be called out to work on lockdown – but, alas, no more. I’m just glad they don’t need my help in the mattress factory during lockdown!
Now I have plenty of time to do my own shakedown, and jettison any minor contraband items I may have accumulated and forgotten about. I can catch up on books I’ve been meaning to read, play with my tablet – and I may even start working out again, like I’ve been meaning to! (Well, let’s not get too carried away…)
I am proud of myself for making the decision to stop using drugs – and sticking to it! – and I wish more inmates would do the same. It’s not hard to quit, but it is hard to make up your mind to quit! Drugs led most of us to prison, in one way or another, and as long as we continue to use them, we’re always running the risk of coming back, if we ever do make it out of here.
There are many things we could be doing, and goals we could be accomplishing, if we weren’t using all of our time and energy chasing drugs. I, for one, am ready to accomplish some of them, and contribute to society in some way, rather than being exiled from it. There are things we can all do, if we’re willing to take the time to do them. So says DannyBoy.