DannyBoyinExile

After fifteen days of lockdown, during which the entire unit was searched for contraband, we are finally back to normal again. Well, I don’t know what “normal” means – but we’re back to normal operations, at any rate.
We had a brief respite for Easter, when we were allowed to pick up our food from the chow hall (“drive-through”) – then it was right back to our cells, like a naughty kid who’s been sent to his room. It wasn’t until Tuesday that we were completely off lockdown, and the Wynne Unit was back to being a fully functional model of rehabilitative excellence again. (Don’t laugh!)
Short-of-staffageness, on the other hand, can rear its ugly head at any time – even on lockdown. They even had to postpone the shakedown a few times, because they simply didn’t have enough guards to do it.
Imagine being told to pack all of your property and be ready to go, first thing the next morning – and nothing happens, because NOBODY was searched that day! (If there’s one thing worse than being “all dressed up, with nowhere to go”, it’s being all PACKED up with nowhere to go!)
The Easter meal was excellent, by the way. Baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed vegetables in cheese sauce – even cake for dessert. Not bad at all, especially considering we were still on lockdown – which we were starkly reminded of when we received another sack meal for dinner.
It didn’t kill us (the sack meals OR the lockdown), so hopefully it made us stronger. If nothing else, we were contraband-free (for the most part!), and even got to toss out some excess junk and do a little “spring cleaning” in our cells.
We found out that the lockdown was over with when they called us out for breakfast – which was, sadly, the same pancake roll we would’ve gotten in a sack, on lockdown! Aside from that, the following meals even seemed to TASTE much better. (Which they generally will, after you’ve been starving for two weeks!) Seriously, they’ve conquered the Covid Cuisine, and some of our meals are downright tasty. Nobody misses a PBJ pancake sandwich, for sure.
Now the workers are back to work, the students are back to school, and most everybody is wondering when they’ll go to commissary. (Or doing their best to sneak in line!)
As for me, I’m living a life of leisure, since I was forced into retirement. I don’t have a job, but I do have a good attitude, and boundless optimism that things will get better. I also have a tablet, which contains music, games, and plenty of educational materials. I have lots of writing to do, and plenty of time to do it. I even have plenty of morons in the dayroom that I can argue with, if I get bored enough! 🙂 But let’s hope it doesn’t get that drastic.
We still get racked up on occasion, when they’re short of staff, but that comes with the territory. I managed to pass the time constructively on lockdown – and there’s no excuse for me not to be able to do so now, when there’s so much more to occupy myself with. Even in prison, I manage to keep my head up, and remain positive. So I’m pretty positive I’ll find a way to finagle my way into the commissary line, too! So says DannyBoy