a trip to the reformatory

Today was our monthly trip to the prison in Monroe where some of my friends and I meet with inmates. It seems like every time there is a new hire in administration, the system is tweaked slightly to show how the new hire is 'improving' the system. It feels like change strictly for personal issues of power and control so that the new hire can demonstrate a hands-on can-do approach to taking charge of their new job. I am sure if I got a new senior admin job at the prison, I would follow the well established tradition and make some changes too….

Tonight's change resulted in us leaving at 8 PM instead of 8:30. That is not that big a deal for my crew that only goes out there once a month. For those that volunteer weekly or more often, that is a big change for their program.

We had 8 inmates at our meeting tonight which is about par. Attendance varies between 3 and 20 inmates and tends to bounce around between 6 to 12 inmates at a meeting. Some are relatively new and others have been going for decades. One inmate has been attending our meeting for 30 years.

Tonight we talked about having a setback and responding with a more functional approach than how we used to respond. I know I have made tremendous progress in having more functional and appropriate responses. The inmates' progress is nothing short of astounding. One young man talked about how a bully in a guard's uniform verbally abused him, handcuffed him and took him to the lieutenant on duty for further punishment. By maintaining a calm response, obeying the guard and having a rational discussion with the lieutenant, the inmate was able to avoid further problems and likely won't be picked on by that guard again for some time.

I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from others in harsh living conditions in a way that helps me to be more grateful for the good life I have here in Bellevue and to let go of my self-pity for how tough I think I have it.