DannyBoyinExile

If there’s one thing about TDCJ that never changes, it’s the fact that things are ALWAYS changing. Some of those changes are beneficial to me. Others, not so much. Either way, it’s not up to ME to change anything, or even opine about the changes that do get made. I’m just the janitor – the smartest thing I ever did was change myself!
I work on B wing, which used to be the G5 (“High Security “) wing. Before that it was the Ad Seg wing, where inmates were locked in their cells all day, and had to be in handcuffs any time they left it. For whatever reasons, the TDCJ Administration decided to ship them all off the unit, and replace them with the G5 inmates.
Now they too have been transferred (the G5s, I mean, not the Administration!) and replaced with inmates who are simply in transit – on their way to somewhere else – and only stay here for a matter of days.
There was never a dull moment with the transits, because they were such a hodgepodge of different types of inmates from different custody levels and units. I mean, you might have a G5 psych patient who floods the run for recreation next to a transgender inmate from protective custody – right above a guy on suicide watch, who is next door to a G2 inmate who is actually on his way home. I tried to TREAT each of them exactly the same, when I interacted with them – but they weren’t the same types of inmates at all.
The phrase “This Too Shall Pass” is said to be applicable to just about any situation – and this includes TDCJ. Now they’ve decided to transfer all of the temporary (transit) inmates to another unit, to be replaced with G5 inmates again.
G5, of course, is the bottom of the barrel, as far as general population. It is them, in fact, who created most of the havoc as transit inmates on B wing. The entire wing will be comprised solely of G5s now, which you may think would make the wing much worse – but that’s not necessarily the case.
I’ve learned that most of the transits only performed their antics BECAUSE they knew that they’d be leaving soon. In that situation, people don’t care as much about making enemies, or burning proverbial bridges, because they’ll be leaving them behind, sooner than later. It’s a different story when you’ll be stuck here, dealing with the same guards, janitors, and inmates on a daily basis. Then you’d be an idiot to make them all hate you! But, alas, TDCJ has its share of idiots, just like everywhere else.
On top of that, the higher-ups (higher than me, anyway – I quit getting high!) decided to switch out the rank here. So now the B wing Major is over population now, and the population Major is in charge of B wing. In other words, the same lady (the Queen) who fired me from the hallway is my boss again… I haven’t been re-fired yet – but I’m still hoping! (just kidding) I like to think that good workers will always be valuable. Then again, I thought that the last time she fired me, too… haha
Either way, I’ll continue to be the worker that I am, regardless of the changes I encounter. I’ve learned that change affects all of us, so that even bad news is only temporary. We can always make the most of bad circumstances – or we can just be patient, and the circumstances themselves may change. That may not be as fun as flooding the run or starting a fire, apparently – but it works much better for me in the long run, for sure. So says DannyBoy.