Thursday, January 24, 2008
Here Is My Rant
Submitted by an anonymous Corrections Officer:
Here is my rant, my vent, my rambling, my words...
Judging by your webpage I imagine you have heard a lot of stories about COs and the various things they go through. Interesting to see how committed you are to the group of us malcontents and misfits. I am not real new to the career nor do I have all the experience that The Old Screw has. I am somewhere in between, along with a lot of my brothers and sisters. No, I do not have a problem with women in this workplace. They can do the job as well, if not better, than a bunch of the guys I work with.
There are good guys and bad guys everywhere you go. Most of the good guys where I work are staff and most of the bad guys are inmates. It’s all part of the job. And it is quite the job! I spend most of my days around convicted felons who are guilty of rape, murder, robbery, and more of the most heinous crimes. They are locked away from society for varying lengths of time for their crimes. Most of the time I do not care what they did to get into prison, though many of them share it willingly. Goes something like, "Motherf----r, I killed four f-----s on the street and more since I been locked down. You think I give a s--t about you or what you askin’ me to do? Motherf----r must be stupid." This coming from any number of inmates after being told “No.” It’s all part of that "fair, firm, and consistent" plan everyone talks about. It works great.
Now why would I go home and talk to my spouse or girlfriend about that? Why would I tell that story at a party of friends that do not work in the field? Why is it you find me hanging out with folks that understand what I go through on a daily basis? Folks outside of corrections do not have any idea what is like. No more than I know what it is like to be a surgeon, lawyer, or psychologist.
I have heard that I will never pass a psych eval again due to the stress of working in prison. I tend to think those folks are probably right when they make that claim. This job changes people. It has to, or you will not survive. The only folks that it does not change are the ones that were messed up to begin with, long before they took this job. There are plenty of those folks, too. So tough, and trying to act hard, that they make the job harder for everyone. Only thing worse is the weak ones that give into every demand of an inmate. Some get walked out. Others make it to Executive staff level. :)
I am not trying to dump on inmates, executive staff, co-workers, or even myself. Hell, we all have made mistakes. They are of varying degrees or they did not get caught. The corrections industry is a business. We are not here to rehabilitate or facilitate inmates into being model citizens. We are here to keep them locked up. I have deadly force as one of my tools to make sure the inmates stay in the warehouses we continue to make for them. There is little reprisal in most prisons for inmates who continue to do wrong. They get time added and move on to other places. And they keep breaking the rules and laws. What other choice do they have in this environment?
And just ‘cause the guy sitting next to you in traffic or on the bus is free does not make him a nice guy. We know what the folks in prison did to get there. We do not know a d--n thing about the guy next door. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. "He was always such a nice guy, quiet, never caused any trouble," Right in the news story of how he killed a family or raped innocent kids.
I am rambling because that is how I unwind. I have a dark sense of humor that is twisted and skewed. My outlook on life matches that. And I am supposed to share that with my loved ones or a counselor? I think not. If most folks knew the mindset of many of my co-workers they would think we needed to be locked up. We are! At least eight hours a day, five days a week, and 52 weeks out of the year I am behind multiple gates or doors with a set of keys that opens up doors in my area. So far, the keys have not been valuable enough to get me hurt or killed for an inmate to get somewhere else. Others have not been so lucky. And I hear folks say that is all part of the job. It is indeed. Some folks handle it better than others. Many of my co-workers stop by at the local pub on the way home. Hell, many of them would stop by on the way in if the bars were open and they knew they would not lose their jobs. Others find other outlets. Hobbies, hanging out with folks outside of the prison community, church, or other safer outlets. But inside the walls we are in it together. Dysfunctional, neurotic, psychotic, and prayerful.
My options are few outside this world. I make good money that supports my family and keeps a roof over my head. If I, and my co-workers, can make it to retirement, we have it made. Except that we get addicted to the adrenaline and something in our body snaps. Life expectancy for someone who spends their life working in a prison is less than 60 years old. Spend 25-30 years in a thankless job that no one in their right mind would do, and then you die. I keep hearing the famous saying, “It is all good. Another day in paradise." It is not all good, and this is not paradise. Every prison I know of is short on staff, but not short on inmates. The inmates have the capability of taking over just about every prison yard across the US. State, county, private, and feds. We will get them back. That is what we do. That is what we are paid for. That is what we signed on for, whether they told us that upfront or not.
Who would have taken the job if they knew? We have to keep it a secret so that others will still explore the option. The word is getting out though. New prisons are finding it hard to hire and retain staff. The pool to choose from is getting smaller and folks that leave are talking about their experiences. Sooner or later it will get out how bad it is and they will extend retirement age and some of us will die working. That is not the epitaph I want. I much prefer, "He was such a nice guy, quiet, never caused any trouble." :)
I wish only the best for the crazy folks that call this a career, the inmates and their families, the suits, and the people in the towns and cities that we keep the criminals locked up from. We are on this road of life together. We are headed toward a major train wreck if there is not a change. I just hope someone sees it. I hope that some grassroots organization is able to open a few eyes to what is going on behind the walls and that the right folks react and actually do something. I do not care if you call me screw, hack, bossman, CO, correctional officer, or neighbor. I will keep doing my job, to the best of my ability, until I move on. That is what I do. For now.
Here is my rant, my vent, my rambling, my words...
Judging by your webpage I imagine you have heard a lot of stories about COs and the various things they go through. Interesting to see how committed you are to the group of us malcontents and misfits. I am not real new to the career nor do I have all the experience that The Old Screw has. I am somewhere in between, along with a lot of my brothers and sisters. No, I do not have a problem with women in this workplace. They can do the job as well, if not better, than a bunch of the guys I work with.
There are good guys and bad guys everywhere you go. Most of the good guys where I work are staff and most of the bad guys are inmates. It’s all part of the job. And it is quite the job! I spend most of my days around convicted felons who are guilty of rape, murder, robbery, and more of the most heinous crimes. They are locked away from society for varying lengths of time for their crimes. Most of the time I do not care what they did to get into prison, though many of them share it willingly. Goes something like, "Motherf----r, I killed four f-----s on the street and more since I been locked down. You think I give a s--t about you or what you askin’ me to do? Motherf----r must be stupid." This coming from any number of inmates after being told “No.” It’s all part of that "fair, firm, and consistent" plan everyone talks about. It works great.
Now why would I go home and talk to my spouse or girlfriend about that? Why would I tell that story at a party of friends that do not work in the field? Why is it you find me hanging out with folks that understand what I go through on a daily basis? Folks outside of corrections do not have any idea what is like. No more than I know what it is like to be a surgeon, lawyer, or psychologist.
I have heard that I will never pass a psych eval again due to the stress of working in prison. I tend to think those folks are probably right when they make that claim. This job changes people. It has to, or you will not survive. The only folks that it does not change are the ones that were messed up to begin with, long before they took this job. There are plenty of those folks, too. So tough, and trying to act hard, that they make the job harder for everyone. Only thing worse is the weak ones that give into every demand of an inmate. Some get walked out. Others make it to Executive staff level. :)
I am not trying to dump on inmates, executive staff, co-workers, or even myself. Hell, we all have made mistakes. They are of varying degrees or they did not get caught. The corrections industry is a business. We are not here to rehabilitate or facilitate inmates into being model citizens. We are here to keep them locked up. I have deadly force as one of my tools to make sure the inmates stay in the warehouses we continue to make for them. There is little reprisal in most prisons for inmates who continue to do wrong. They get time added and move on to other places. And they keep breaking the rules and laws. What other choice do they have in this environment?
And just ‘cause the guy sitting next to you in traffic or on the bus is free does not make him a nice guy. We know what the folks in prison did to get there. We do not know a d--n thing about the guy next door. Makes me laugh every time I hear it. "He was always such a nice guy, quiet, never caused any trouble," Right in the news story of how he killed a family or raped innocent kids.
I am rambling because that is how I unwind. I have a dark sense of humor that is twisted and skewed. My outlook on life matches that. And I am supposed to share that with my loved ones or a counselor? I think not. If most folks knew the mindset of many of my co-workers they would think we needed to be locked up. We are! At least eight hours a day, five days a week, and 52 weeks out of the year I am behind multiple gates or doors with a set of keys that opens up doors in my area. So far, the keys have not been valuable enough to get me hurt or killed for an inmate to get somewhere else. Others have not been so lucky. And I hear folks say that is all part of the job. It is indeed. Some folks handle it better than others. Many of my co-workers stop by at the local pub on the way home. Hell, many of them would stop by on the way in if the bars were open and they knew they would not lose their jobs. Others find other outlets. Hobbies, hanging out with folks outside of the prison community, church, or other safer outlets. But inside the walls we are in it together. Dysfunctional, neurotic, psychotic, and prayerful.
My options are few outside this world. I make good money that supports my family and keeps a roof over my head. If I, and my co-workers, can make it to retirement, we have it made. Except that we get addicted to the adrenaline and something in our body snaps. Life expectancy for someone who spends their life working in a prison is less than 60 years old. Spend 25-30 years in a thankless job that no one in their right mind would do, and then you die. I keep hearing the famous saying, “It is all good. Another day in paradise." It is not all good, and this is not paradise. Every prison I know of is short on staff, but not short on inmates. The inmates have the capability of taking over just about every prison yard across the US. State, county, private, and feds. We will get them back. That is what we do. That is what we are paid for. That is what we signed on for, whether they told us that upfront or not.
Who would have taken the job if they knew? We have to keep it a secret so that others will still explore the option. The word is getting out though. New prisons are finding it hard to hire and retain staff. The pool to choose from is getting smaller and folks that leave are talking about their experiences. Sooner or later it will get out how bad it is and they will extend retirement age and some of us will die working. That is not the epitaph I want. I much prefer, "He was such a nice guy, quiet, never caused any trouble." :)
I wish only the best for the crazy folks that call this a career, the inmates and their families, the suits, and the people in the towns and cities that we keep the criminals locked up from. We are on this road of life together. We are headed toward a major train wreck if there is not a change. I just hope someone sees it. I hope that some grassroots organization is able to open a few eyes to what is going on behind the walls and that the right folks react and actually do something. I do not care if you call me screw, hack, bossman, CO, correctional officer, or neighbor. I will keep doing my job, to the best of my ability, until I move on. That is what I do. For now.
