Prison Pete
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
One Man's Trash.
1:16 PM. Sitting on my bed looking out the window three stories up. Garbage is toted out of the unit and tossed into these large Rubbermaid-type "dumpsters." While the garbage is in large clear plastic bags, it is certainly not a pleasant job to go rummaging through it. You ask why would that be an issue?
Well, actually it is two issues. The first is the rule of one man's trash is another's treasure. Ah, that reminds me of my teenage years walking the streets of Brooklyn, NY. But that will be another post.
The sport we inmates around here call dumpster diving is practiced by a certain group of inmates hoping to find some treasure that they can then sell to another inmate. Certain group, you ask? Yes, certain they will find something.
Sometimes they are able to salvage stuff that was confiscated from inmates leaving the chow hall, tossed into the garbage can, and then when transferred to the dumpster, and as the dumpster is emptied into the trash compactor, the inmates responsible for that process have been known to pick out the goodies (nice run-on sentence).
Well, the second "rummager" (yes, this is a single inmate) is the Recycler. Since "they" know how many cans of soda they sell each week in the commissary and they noticed the amount of cans being bagged as recycles, the powers that be figured out they should have an inmate go through the trash bags and remove the cans.
It should be noted that each of the twelve units has a large garbage can marked as a recycle bin for all cans. The problem is that inmates choose to defy authority and continue to dump cans in the regular trash. The staff is not much better, since the aforementioned Recycler also manages to salvage a bunch of plastic soda bottles, which can only come from staff.
So even though every inmate knows we have a recycle program and most have seen the Recycler, wearing his yellow rubber gloves and his plastic glasses, digging through the trash, they do not make his job easier by tossing cans in the proper receptacle.
So here I sit, watching the leaves fall from the trees, every once in a while a gust of wind pulls a whole slew of leaves off the trees, and I watch a fellow inmate dig through trash.
This is just another example of how even in the simplest aspects, one is not always predisposed to assist a fellow inmate.
Yes, I do put my cans in the recycle bin!
Well, actually it is two issues. The first is the rule of one man's trash is another's treasure. Ah, that reminds me of my teenage years walking the streets of Brooklyn, NY. But that will be another post.
The sport we inmates around here call dumpster diving is practiced by a certain group of inmates hoping to find some treasure that they can then sell to another inmate. Certain group, you ask? Yes, certain they will find something.
Sometimes they are able to salvage stuff that was confiscated from inmates leaving the chow hall, tossed into the garbage can, and then when transferred to the dumpster, and as the dumpster is emptied into the trash compactor, the inmates responsible for that process have been known to pick out the goodies (nice run-on sentence).
Well, the second "rummager" (yes, this is a single inmate) is the Recycler. Since "they" know how many cans of soda they sell each week in the commissary and they noticed the amount of cans being bagged as recycles, the powers that be figured out they should have an inmate go through the trash bags and remove the cans.
It should be noted that each of the twelve units has a large garbage can marked as a recycle bin for all cans. The problem is that inmates choose to defy authority and continue to dump cans in the regular trash. The staff is not much better, since the aforementioned Recycler also manages to salvage a bunch of plastic soda bottles, which can only come from staff.
So even though every inmate knows we have a recycle program and most have seen the Recycler, wearing his yellow rubber gloves and his plastic glasses, digging through the trash, they do not make his job easier by tossing cans in the proper receptacle.
So here I sit, watching the leaves fall from the trees, every once in a while a gust of wind pulls a whole slew of leaves off the trees, and I watch a fellow inmate dig through trash.
This is just another example of how even in the simplest aspects, one is not always predisposed to assist a fellow inmate.
Yes, I do put my cans in the recycle bin!
Comments:
They're lucky that they can even get money for cans and bottles.
I've enjoyed reading your blog, and keeping up with it. I've been reading a few older posts here and there, when I can. Though I never really figured out what you're in there for, and it's really not my business. I've always thought that yeah it's probably not easy in jail, but inmates have quite a few more luxuries than alot of people out in the real world. 3 meals, education, fitness rooms, free time...etc. No offence intended, just my opinion.
I've enjoyed reading your blog, and keeping up with it. I've been reading a few older posts here and there, when I can. Though I never really figured out what you're in there for, and it's really not my business. I've always thought that yeah it's probably not easy in jail, but inmates have quite a few more luxuries than alot of people out in the real world. 3 meals, education, fitness rooms, free time...etc. No offence intended, just my opinion.
I see your point Miranda but I wanted to add mine as well:
You can have every amenity in the world in prison such as three meals a day, healthcare, TV, and clothes but they have little meaning or just very little comfort when you don’t have one simple thing…..FREEDOM. The freedom to do what you want to do when you want to. The freedom to take a walk in the woods or go hiking without having armed guards watch you. The freedom to have a close and physical relationship with a loved one. You also have little to no privacy. From what I have read on Pete’s blog, even going to the bathroom is an uncomfortable or awkward situation.
In a speech delivered by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775 during the Revolutionary war he said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” That is how dear and how strong some of us feel about our liberty. I know I do as well and reading Pete’s blog makes me value that liberty I have. Unfortunately, Pete had his taken away due to a crime he committed and I have never heard him proclaim innocence and I have read his whole blog. Maybe someday Pete will regain his liberty and freedom but I think what he is going through now is an ample enough punishment.
You can have every amenity in the world in prison such as three meals a day, healthcare, TV, and clothes but they have little meaning or just very little comfort when you don’t have one simple thing…..FREEDOM. The freedom to do what you want to do when you want to. The freedom to take a walk in the woods or go hiking without having armed guards watch you. The freedom to have a close and physical relationship with a loved one. You also have little to no privacy. From what I have read on Pete’s blog, even going to the bathroom is an uncomfortable or awkward situation.
In a speech delivered by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775 during the Revolutionary war he said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” That is how dear and how strong some of us feel about our liberty. I know I do as well and reading Pete’s blog makes me value that liberty I have. Unfortunately, Pete had his taken away due to a crime he committed and I have never heard him proclaim innocence and I have read his whole blog. Maybe someday Pete will regain his liberty and freedom but I think what he is going through now is an ample enough punishment.
I understand what you are saying Johnathon, but I guess I was just feeling for the ones that are free. The guy that had a bad streak of luck, on the street. The families both single/double parents that just struggle to get a meal or pay the rent. They committed no crime, yet somehow manage to live without three meals, tv or warm clothes, or other little luxuries.
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