Through the Walls

Friday, June 04, 2004


The Daily Routine



Hi, welcome to the Blog, Through the Walls. Today I will tell you a little bit about daily life here, which is pretty much the same every day, with the exception of a few things.

First, the guard opens the cells at 5:30 a.m. so that the inmates who are gonna get breakfast, start getting ready, because at 6:00 a.m. the chow hall opens until 7:00 a.m. At 7:30 a.m., they make the Work Call for those who have to work or study. Then, at every hour, they call the Five Minute Move in which you have from five to ten minutes to go to different places in the prison, like: the yard, the library, the medical area, the psychology area and so on. Where one goes is where we have to stay until the next Movement. At 10:00 a.m., they call the last morning Movement - Recall. In this Movement, everyone has to go back to their respective units until it’s each of our unit’s turn to go to lunch, which varies every week (depending on how the unit does - in terms of cleanliness - on it’s inspection days (1-12). Lunch starts at 10:30 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m., although it ends a bit later on occasion. Other times, it ends a bit earlier (depending on what’s on the menu).

Later on, there’s another Work Call (12:35 p.m.) and then, they keep calling the Movements every hour until 3:20 p.m. - when they do another Recall, because there’s a countdown at 4:00 p.m. From 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. they call a Movement for those going to the yard, who are not going to eat dinner. After this Movement, they start calling the units, by turn, to go to eat. Everything is the same as in the morning, until 8:20 p.m. which is when they do a Recall once again for the 9:00 p.m. countdown. After this countdown, you have to stay in your unit, either watching TV, talking on the phone, writing or whatever. Finally, at 11:30 p.m., it’s time to lock yourself in you room until the next day. And the same routine starts all over again.

This has been a short summary of what we do here daily. There are still many things to talk about, but I’ll leave them for another time. In here one learns to value many things. It’s like being in school; one learns a lot.

Thanks for visiting this site. Goodbye for now and I leave you with a message.

Sincerely,

P.M.

Things I’ve Learned

I’ve learned;
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I’ve learned;
That it’s taking me a long time to become the person that I want to be.

I’ve learned;
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I’ve learned;
That you can keep going long after you can’t.

I’ve learned;
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I’ve learned;
That either you control your attitude, or it controls you.

I’ve learned;
That regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I’ve learned;
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I’ve learned;
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I’ve learned;
That my best friend and I can do anything and nothing and still have a good time.

I’ve learned;
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I’ve learned;
That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I’ve learned;
That true friendship continues to grow even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I’ve learned;
That just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to, doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.

I’ve learned;
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them; and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I’ve learned;
That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while; and you must forgive them for that.

I’ve learned;
That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I’ve learned;
That no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I’ve learned;
That our backgrounds and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I’ve learned;
That just because two people argue, doesn’t mean that they don’t love each other; and just because they don’t argue, doesn’t mean they do.

I’ve learned;
That we don’t have to change friends, if we understand that friends change.

I’ve learned;
That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I’ve learned;
That two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I’ve learned;
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I’ve learned;
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out for you, you will find the strength to help.

I’ve learned;
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I’ve learned;
That people you care about the most in life are taken away from you too soon.

posted by P.M., 3:47 AM Email This Post

0 Comments:

Post a Comment