DannyBoyinExile

My wing went to commissary the other day (at long last!), and my neighbor found out that he was rich – but only briefly.
It is customary for inmates to add a “wish list” to the bottom of their commissary lists. What that means is, after your list that you EXPECT to get, with the money that you KNOW you have – you add a certain amount of extra items at the bottom, JUST IN CASE you received any extra money. We generally try to spend as much as we can, considering it is usually quite some time before we get a chance to go again. (We always look forward to our next commissary day – and usually for a really long time!)
My neighbor came home filled with excitement, along with a bag filled with every kind of junk food imaginable. “Somebody sent me an extra hundred bucks!”
He was gorging himself on ice cream, cookies, and soda – simultaneously – and even shared his unexpected windfall with a few of his associates. No sooner had he ripped open yet another pack of cookies (to share, of course) than they called his name and told him to return to the commissary window – and bring his stuff with him.
That in itself wasn’t unusual. Many inmates have been so excited about their bag of goodies that they hurriedly leave the window – and have to be summoned back, because they forgot to sign or thumbprint their receipt. Some of them even leave without picking up their ID cards!
Alas, my neighbor’s situation wasn’t so benign. The reason he noticed an extra hundred dollars on his account was because it wasn’t his account at all! When they’d called his name, he went to the window, but it was the wrong window – so they were actually giving him someone else’s commissary…
He would’ve noticed, had he looked at the name on his receipt. But nobody looks for their NAME on their receipt – they already know that! (For the most part.) They’re looking for more important details, like how much money they had, or how much they spent.
Come to find out, HE only had around twenty bucks on his account – which just about covered the stuff he’d already eaten and given away… All the rest went right back into the window, so they could correct the mistake. He was broke again.
Nobody was happy about the situation – least of all the guy who was mistakenly told that he’d already BEEN to commissary, and couldn’t go again – even though it was somebody else that spent his money. I feel sorriest for my neighbor. I mean, he can honestly say that he spent his last twenty bucks – and gave it all to his homeboys. But he surely wouldn’t have, if he’d have known better.
The lady who ran his card should’ve known better, for sure – she was the commissary manager! She clearly should’ve asked for his TDCJ number before she started sliding stuff out of the window – or at least compared him to the picture on the ID card. Needless to say, she’s not the manager anymore. (She was promoted – she’s the Major now!) (just kidding)
Mistakes happen. At least she was able to immediately identify what had taken place, and correct it right away. She even personally made up the difference for all the stuff he’d already eaten, that he couldn’t pay for. All’s well that ends well, and it turned out to be something to laugh about, rather than complain about.
There will be times in your life when you’re the guy with an extra hundred bucks – and other times when you’re the guy with a hundred bucks missing. Either way, you have to keep your head up, and do your best not to make the situation worse. If you’re lucky, you may even end up being one of the guys being offered free cookies – which you better accept while you can… So says DannyBoy.