DannyBoyinExile

TDCJ contains plenty of people who love to talk – and usually talk far too much. (Which means that it’s not much different from the free world, come to think about it!) When you have lots of inmates who like to talk, arguments are sure to ensue. Winston Churchill once observed that, “A fanatic is someone who won’t change their mind – and CAN’T change the subject.” Clearly, there are a lot of fanatics in TDCJ. Some people will argue about anything (or nothing at all!), just for the sake of arguing.
What’s worse is when someone will argue for hours – and be completely wrong! And when you PROVE that they don’t know what they’re talking about, indisputably, they’ll just shift the argument to a slightly different subject, and argue with you about that. It’s almost as if they’re afraid that by admitting that they’re wrong, they are revealing some sort of weakness.
I love logic, and facts, and I love to read. So my head is packed full of facts, figures, and ammunition to blast away at some of the argumentative morons around here – but I quickly learned the futility of it. There are just too many of them.
Years ago, on Robertson Unit, I started a tradition of keeping a Dictionary and an Almanac on our table in the dayroom. When guys would come around, arguing senselessly, we’d look it up right then. The loser (no pun intended) would have to do some pushups, to pay for his ignorance. This idea took hold, and before long the whole dayroom would come to my table to look up the correct spelling, definition, or answer, and settle their dispute – with the loser doing pushups, accompanied by plenty of jeering and good-natured trash talking.
Here I am on Wynne Unit, years later. Many things have changed in TDCJ – but there are still just as many idiots as ever. I’VE learned that it’s never a bad idea to shut up. But some people have never learned that their right to remain silent is worthless until they USE it!
Not many people play the pushup game anymore, so the game has evolved. Now we have “The Stupid Corner”. That’s a designated spot in the dayroom for people to be sent to, once they’ve been convicted of arguing incorrectly. Anything you say can and will be used against you! Once your guilt has been proven, you are sent to the stupid corner, where the entire dayroom is eligible to jeer and make fun of you – so you will hopefully learn your lesson about arguing incorrectly. (“Free styling”, or “Talking out the side of your neck”, as it’s called these days.)
Our stupid corner is so stupid that it’s not even a corner at all! Right in the center of the front wall, beneath the switch that turns the fans on and off, someone has written ” The Stupid Corner “. Many people learn their lesson after their peers have ridiculed them a few times – but some people never learn. One guy in particular is sent there so often that even I have made jokes to him about it: “They say that we’re about to have assigned seats in the dayroom – and yours is in the stupid corner!” =~)
It’s all in fun, and some people have learned more correct spellings and pronunciations from me than they ever did from their teachers in school – which isn’t a bad thing. I know how to spell just about anything, but I’ve still learned something useful from the stupid corner: it’s never a bad idea to shut up – or at least admit that you don’t know something. It’s much better to keep your mouth shut and risk having someone THINK you’re an idiot, than to talk too much and remove all doubt… So says DannyBoy.