DannyBoyinExile

One of the tools that TDCJ gives us, to combat the sweltering summer heat, is the “cooling towels”. (Did I say GIVES us? Clearly, I meant SELLS us!) They are somewhere between fluorescent yellow and fluorescent green on the color scale – and resemble nothing as much as the “shammies” that are commonly used to dry or wax cars.
I must admit that I was initially skeptical about them. I’d see guys walking around the dayrooms (and even the hallways) with their soaking wet towels draped around their necks, leaving a trail of water running down the back of their shirts, and I’d think to myself, “What a moron!” Who would want a soggy rag half strangling them, which would only add more heat (and weight) to your shoulders? Not to mention adding extra humidity, which would make you feel even hotter?
And after remaining soaked with water on an almost permanent basis, they begin to smell almost as bad as the guys themselves, who never washed them. No thanks. I come from an era in TDCJ when you didn’t whine about things like ice water or it being too hot outside, so I was determined to tough it out.
The cooling towels only cost around two dollars – which isn’t a bad deal at all – but I ended up with one of them completely by mistake. Being the nice guy that I am, I loaned a guy a pack of cookies until commissary day. No good deed goes unpunished, so of course he got a case and went on restriction before we went to store – so I had to settle for a new cooling towel instead of my vanilla cream cookies. It sat in my locker, unused, for months. (For far longer than the cookies would have, for sure!)
One day my cellie was hanging a wet sheet in front of his fan, which actually does help to make the cell cooler, so I explained to him that the same principle (evaporation) is what they use in refrigerators – and I had an epiphany. With my fan hanging on the wall and blowing directly across ME, there’s no reason that a wet cooling towel shouldn’t do the exact same thing. Possibly even better, since they’re designed to absorb far more water than a cotton sheet.
So I gave it a try – and I was amazed at the results. When I soaked the towel in water and laid on my bunk with the fan on me, I could immediately feel the difference. And I haven’t been out of my bunk since! (just kidding)
Now I get so much cooler that I feel downright chilly at night sometimes, and have to take it off! (Not often, to be sure, but sometimes.) It’s a nuisance to have to get up and resoak it every few hours, but that is a small price to pay – and I usually get up to pee at least once a night, so I just take care of it then.
I won’t go so far as to keep it with me at all times, like some of these other guys do, like it’s an American Express card or something. But when I’m in my cell, 90% of the time I’m under my fan with my wet cooling towel laying atop me. It may look strange to see a guy covered up with ANYTHING when it’s nearly 100° outside – but it works, and that’s all that matters.
Be sure to share this advice with your loved ones, if they are on the wrong side of a fence and struggling with the Texas heat. There’s no sense in sweating any more than you have to – and I wouldn’t have even discovered it, had some guy not had the cookies he owed me.
If you’re patient, you can usually find some good in almost any bad news. Just make sure you’re LOOKING for it. So says DannyBoy.