"When the right thing happens for the wrong reason, it is still the right thing."
Canteen Delivery
Other than visiting, the canteen is the best part of the
inmate's week. It is the Super Wal-Mart of the prison
system. Most inmates get to go twice a week. On any
given morning, inmates will skip breakfast just so they can
get further ahead in line.
One of the amazing things about a canteen in a
penitentiary is how popular they are when they suck so
badly. The canteen is the only place an inmate can shop.
There is no competition. No matter how poorly an employee
treats the customer, they will come back. No matter how
crappy the service is, they will come back. No matter how
fi lthy the store is, no matter how much shit you get cheated
out of. you get the idea.
This particular Wednesday, major construction was
planned in a portion of the yard where the canteen was
located. The consequences for the inmates would be
astronomical. It meant they would not be able to get to the
portion of the yard where they could purchase their supplies.
The canteen contained all the essentials from hygiene items
to candy bars and televisions. This closure could create a
huge problem for the inmates. In prison, inmate problems
become staff problems.
My co-worker, JoAnn Kinney, came up with a brilliant
plan. We would collect the canteen orders and deliver them
to the canteen ourselves. As the orders were fi lled, the
canteen staff could deliver them, just as they do an order for
an inmate on room-restriction. Just because the idea did not
work as planned, does not make it a bad idea.
When the idea took fi nal form, and action took place, we
made the announcement that staff would attempt to place the
orders for the inmates, and that canteen staff would deliver
the orders later that day, or the following morning. The
announcement occurred after many inmates had left the unit
for breakfast, or the shop where they worked. Consequently,
of the 140 inmates living in the housing unit, roughly half
of them were aware that they had to turn in their store order
sheets to staff in the next 10 minutes. Ten minutes later, I
walked to the canteen with roughly 80 store orders in hand,
not much bigger than a stack of 3' x 5' index cards. On my
way across the yard, half a dozen inmates approached me
with questions regarding my destination. Once they were
aware that I was headed to the store with the stack, clearly
visible in my hand, they asked if I would add their order
to the stack. There was no harm done, and I was not the
type of staff to screw with people, so I added the orders and
delivered them to the canteen.
Louis Vogel was a great role model. He took the heat
for you. Letting him down was like letting down your Dad.
Upon my return to the housing unit, two major things were
taking place. The fi rst was predictable. Many of the inmates
who did not get in on the store order, were getting upset
and complaining. That event caused the second event, and
that turned out unpredictable. My boss, the unit manager,
Louis Vogel, decided to make a phone call to the canteen just
to make sure it was acceptable to bring additional orders.
During that phone call, Mr. Vogel learned that the canteen
supervisor had no intention of having her staff deliver the
canteen orders to our housing unit. That pissed him off.
Lou then learned that not only were they not delivering, but
Freedom, the supervisor, thought that her staff deserved
some kudos and formal recognition for going above and
beyond the call of duty for us. That infuriated him. They
were not doing anything more than they would usually do.
The only difference for them was that they did not have
inmates in their faces while they fi lled the orders. That
fact made their job easier. Now it appeared that my coworkers
and I would play the entire role of UPS: Pick-up
and delivery.
About an hour after I delivered the fi rst batch of
orders, I walked across the yard toward the canteen. Three
locked gates that had to be opened by yard staff and one
metal detector later, I arrived at the back door of the canteen.
As a private joke that I could tell my boss, I thanked them for
their extra efforts as I stacked the boxes on their hand-truck.
My trip back to the house was uneventful, but I caught
myself wishing I had gotten an inmate with extra-duty to
push the loaded hand-truck. It was early, but the day was
going to be hotter than fi sh grease before it was over.
All housing unit staff got involved with the order
inventory. Inmates needed to be supervised while they
checked the contents of their orders. Believe it or not, on
occasion, an inmate has claimed that something they were
billed for was not in their order (after hiding it somewhere
in their clothing).
One particular order stuck in my mind. An inmate by
the name of Trimble had frequently ordered tokens as part
of his supplies. For some strange reason, the canteen always
neglected to place them in his bag. I do not know if they
were hoping he would not notice or what, but he always did.
Trimble would always ask to be credited the amount of the
tokens, and it was always a problem for the canteen staff.
It is entirely possible that on occasion Trimble has snuck
the tokens out, and nobody noticed until his supplies were
inventoried, but it is not my job to question his credibility
here. On this particular occasion, the canteen staff had not
packed his tokens as usual, but they did pack a broken stapler.
All this did was add to the peculiarity of his constantly being
the only one with discrepancies in his order. I contacted the
canteen, and they claimed that they would credit his account
for the amount of the tokens. I returned the broken stapler
on my next trip.
Before taking off for another trip to the canteen, I looked
into the possibility of using an extra-duty inmate as a pack
mule for the remaining trips. As long as he went through
the metal detector, and I escorted him through every phase
of the trip, it would be acceptable.
Extra duty is assigned because of disciplinary issues that
occur within the housing units. Inmates can be punished
for everything from passing and receiving (sharing) and
borrowing (stealing) to having possession of contraband
(unauthorized items). Extra duty is a joke, because it is
assigned in hourly increments, and worked off much quicker.
I am not sure how it got this way, but if an inmate performs a
task for extra duty, and it took them fi ve minutes, they would
typically expect to be given an hour of credit, if not more.
Most staff would award them this much as well, without
batting an eye. One offi cer signed off on an inmate's extra
duty for a dare. He made the inmate make a thong out of
large clear plastic trash bags. Then he had to wear nothing
but the thong as he ran to each fi re exit in the house. At least
he was creative about it, and made the inmate earn it.