DannyBoyinExile

If there’s one thing we can be certain of as we reside in TDCJ, it’s that change is never far away. Nothing remains the same for very long – which is a GOOD thing, or we’d still be stuck in the Stone Age around here. (Some PEOPLE may be stuck in the Stone Age, of course, but when enough people around them change, they will too – even if they’re the LAST to do so.)
Even I am subject to the laws of change. I had just been living on the same section for almost two years – and even had the same cellmate for over a year! – so I was nice and comfortable. I was well respected and well established on my wing, until they decided that my cellie would make a good trustee, and moved him to the trusty camp, which is outside the main unit. (Sadly, they didn’t think the same about me!)
That left me in a cell by myself, which is never a good sign. Not because I get lonely, I mean, but because there’s a 50/50 chance of whether they’ll find someone compatible to move into a cell with me – or move ME to a different cell, and put two other people in my cell who are more compatible.
If there’s one thing I can rely on, it’s luck – bad luck, that is! They moved some old guy into my cell (ahem… much older than me!), so they moved me to a different cell – on a completely different wing! I went on a mad scramble to collect the various items I’d loaned to people (books, etc.), packed my property, and went on to become the new guy on a different wing.
Martin Luther King once said that in order to see the true measure of a man’s character, you must see him in adversity. Well, DannyBoy says that if you want to see a man’s character, just loan him a few soups, chips, some cookies or coffee – then get moved to a different wing, and see if you ever get it back! (You’re lucky if you get even half of it back.) What you WILL get is a bunch of excuses, explanations, and justifications for why they didn’t return it like they were supposed to. One of my favorite lines was from the guy who said, “I didn’t think a guy like you was even worried about a half a bag of coffee!”
I told him, “Well, I’m not. And I’m certainly not worried about ever loaning you anything again!” A little coffee is a small price to pay, to see what his real character was like.
So now I’m on a new wing, looking for a seat at someone else’s table or bench, since I don’t have my own spot anymore. Nobody “owns” a place to sit at, for sure, but traditions and routines are serious matters in any culture, and some people sit somewhere for so long that they certainly FEEL like it’s their seat! Guys on my old wing would even get up to offer me “my” seat back, but alas, I lost that spot when I got moved…
Life goes on, in TDCJ as it does elsewhere. I’m doing just fine on C3 now, and my old cellie is REALLY doing fine, as an outside trustee! I wish him the best of luck, even if he’s the reason I got kicked out of my old cell! Oh well. The State giveth, and the State taketh away. So says DannyBoy.