DannyBoyinExile

TDCJ has fully evolved from the Stone Age (if only recently!) and boasts the modern technology and gadgetry that make it the equal of just about any prison system in the US.
We have surveillance cameras (complete with audio) that blanket the entire facility with electronic surveillance. There is even a video room, staffed with personnel who do nothing but watch the antics and security of the unit. They even have the accompanying software which allows them to monitor a particular area, zoom in on any suspected shenanigans – or even track a particular inmate as he passes from camera to camera around the unit. It’s almost like the Big Brother we were warned about – but more of a Big Daddy!
Our commissary has computers, monitors, and scanners that would make any supermarket proud. We may be more Small Mart than Walmart, but commissary is a multi-million-dollar business around here.
Even the serving lines in each chow hall are equipped with a computer and scanner, whereby they can scan your ID card as you go through the line. In that manner they will see who you are, whether you’re on any special diet, and (most importantly) whether you’ve already eaten!
The one weakness in all electronic devices is their reliance on electricity. The original part of the Wynne Unit was built in 1939 – with additional wings, buildings, and sections added haphazardly afterward. So all it takes is a bad storm, a failure in some part or other, or the general wear and tear of such an old system, and we are plunged right back into the Stone Age.
When the power does go out (which it does, on a regular basis), the emergency generators will kick in, to keep electricity flowing to the areas considered essential. (The inmate housing areas aren’t a priority – but they’ll make sure the pints of Blue Bell don’t melt, for sure!)
At that point, there will be no commissary, of course – but we still have to eat. So the preferred method of crime prevention in the chow hall is simple. At the front of each line, where they would ordinarily scan your ID card, they simply use a marker to put an obvious mark on your shirt, whereby they can see that you’ve already eaten.
This method isn’t foolproof, of course. If they’re serving something good enough, inmates will resort to all sorts of extremes, in an attempt to get more of it. Some of them go to chow wearing TWO shirts, so they can quickly jettison the outer one and get back in line. Others have even carried an eyedropper bottle of bleach, which they’ll drip onto the offending mark – and instantly dissolve it. But for the most part, inmates accept defeat (or at least, decide that what they’re serving isn’t worth the extra trouble) and eat one tray, like they’re supposed to.
The worst thing about the marker method at chow is that they often use a permanent marker – which then leaves a permanent mark on your good clothes! Many inmates have opted to miss chow altogether rather than having a big X written on the chest of their visitation shirt. Quite often, you exchange your clothes in the shower, only to receive a shirt with an array of different symbols, in different colors, from different days when the power was out or the computers were down. That’s not counting the transit inmates who come in on the chain, and have their housing assignments written on their shirts, so they don’t forget. (Their locations may not be permanent – but the marks are!)
When the power went out last weekend, I wasn’t surprised. Since they started breakfast two hours later than normal, I actually got up and went, for a change.
There was a Lieutenant in front of the chow hall, who was taking no chances, and marking our shirts as we entered. That struck me as funny – but at least the guy was using a yellow highlighter, which wouldn’t permanently mark our shirts.The thing is, as we went through the line, there was no way to tell who’d already eaten, because we ALL had marks on our shirts! To make matters worse, we had scrambled eggs for breakfast that day, which is probably everyone’s favorite. I asked a few guys at my table if they were going to eat again, and they stared at me blankly.
“How are we gonna do that? We already have marks on our shirts!”
THAT is an example of institutionalized thinking. (Or lack of thinking!)
I’m like, “Exactly, Sherlock! EVERYBODY already has a mark, so they can’t say that you’ve already eaten, because you have a mark.” By the time I finished rolling my eyes at them, they were gone – back in line, and telling their homeboys to join them.
I don’t know how many eggs they ended up serving that day (the kitchen, I mean, not the guys from my table), but I’m sure the poor egg-laying chickens hated me for all the extra work I put them through!
As for me, I didn’t even eat an extra tray. I was just proud that even though we were back in the Stone Age, with no electricity, my MIND was still as sharp as ever. There will always be people who say that we’re not very smart, and that’s OK. As long as we’re not very STUPID, that’s all that matters. So says DannyBoy.