7-23-18

Hey John (uncguy4321),

I've come up with some examples of "Unwritten Laws" & "Accidents turning into Incidents." (I missed mail pick-up so now I have all weekend. I'll go ahead and send it all.

The first is regarding a practice that is so ill=bred, I don't even like mentioning it. However, you seem to have quite an interest in what goes on in here, and I must admit, it is one of the top reasons guys get put in confinement. The real sick part is, this practice is not only carried out when there's a good looking female officer around, but also some clean-cut guy in the shower. I'm referring to when one of these barbaric baboons decides to have some wild sex fantacy and starts masterbating (gunning down) his prey. The thing is, this isn't always done in a behind the scenes area. Sometimes the guy is standing in the wide open. The "Unwritten Law" to remember here is to not disturb, or even walk between, him & whoever he is focused on.

Now let's take a look at how an "Accident turns into an ugly Incident" regarding this issue. I remember one case there was a guy on the 2nd story crosswalk in the dorm, and he was transfixed on the female officer in the control room 35'+ away on the bottom floor, on the other side of the T.V./dayroom & sallyport. While he's pumping away, some guy down stairs about 20'+ away, walked down the main drag of the T.V./dayroom, got a drink at the water fountain, and returned to his cell. Well, later that evening, shortly before final lock down, the gunner gets a friend who uses a cane and they start attacking the water guy. So while gunner is sitting on top of water guy, pounding his face in, the cane guy flips his cane over, stands about three feet away, and just starts swinging it at water guy's head like a golf club. Then, the two guys dragged the unconscious body to a shower, and left it there where an officer found it and called for medical.

So as we see, no matter how uncouth a prisoner's actions may be, they should still be taken seriously. Also, it's a good idea to always look around first, before strolling across what looks like an empty room.

Hey, get this. Just earlier today we had an issue regarding this matter. Some guy was back in the last stall gunning down the officer, while the majority of the guys were gone to breakfast or still asleep. Well, some one said something to him about it and a fight broke out. One guy's shoulder got hurt and the other ended up in confinement.

Hey John (uncguy4321),

Now here's an "Unwritten Law" that I think is so stupid, I go out of my way to show it.

Okay, it's chow time, we've reached the serving window, and we have two lines side by side. One consisting of a few guys who want the alternate meal, and the other consisting of the vast majority who want to regular meal. So regular tray after regular tray is flowing out, when suddenly an alternate tray appears. However, the regulars have gotten into such a flow, that the next guy in the regular line grabs the tray before realizing it's an alternate tray. Can he do something logical, like set it back down on the serving sill, or hand it to the next alternate guy? No. That guy won't take it now, because someone touched his tray. OH PLEASE! (Said in a put out sarcastic manner) So now it turns into a big argument of:

Guy who grabbed alternate tray: "I wanted a regular tray."

First guy in alternate line: "Well I ain't taking that one now!"

Kitchen guy: "Will someone take the next tray?!?!"

Officer: "Let's get moving!"

I'll admit, I've screwed up a few times, but I just go ahead and take the alternate tray to keep things moving. However, I also get a good look at the idiot who things he actually practices what he preaches. That way, the next time I see him in the chow hall on a day we have a piece of cake for dessert, I can sit at the same table with him. Then, near the end of the meal, I look over and say, "Hey, you want my cake?" Then, after his eyes get big & he says, "Yeah, thanks." I suddenly pull back my tray and say, "Oh, wait a second. You wouldn't want this filthy thing. I've touched this tray." Then I give it to another guy at the table. Believe you me, it's worth giving up my dessert just to see the look on their faces. LOL.

Here's another "Accident turning into Incident". Basically, my worry in this area is meeting up with the wrong person. Not everyone, by some kind of prison rule, is going to be a misunderstanding jackass about a simple accident. When you think about it, there are so many altercations that erupt over something so insignificant, that later your yourself are thinking how ridiculous you behaved. One of my informants made mention of a particular issue, he mentioned that due to the larger amount of young guys (18-25) that now infest the prisons, we've got more arguments/fights concerning such pathetic issues. That is because they have something to prove regarding their machoism.

Then again, don't allow that remark to cause you to think that there aren't plenty of grown adults in here who don't know how to act mature either.

In fact, let me share with you a real good example that occured in my own life back a while ago. First let me explain that throughout my adulthood, I've been a man of logic. Anytime I have a point to prove, I'm not just going to show up with a real good opinion. (And yes, I actually like math.) However, this type of mentality doesn't work very well in the prison system. Even if I can mathematically prove me wrong, (let's say in the area of astronomy) I will not be believed all on account of some 60 year old guy. Who swears that now there are more lights in the dark 5 A.M. sky, than there was back when he was a kid.

So at about the time I started giving up on my abilities to set these guys straight with simple logic, I also stumbled across a book entitled: "How To Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I'll admit, I don't have too much of an interest in winning friends in this place, but I do like the idea of being able to influence them.

So now let's back up to my example that got all this started. At this camp I have to visit the barber shop to use the electric clippers so I can keep my face trimmed. I have finally made it inside, after the 45 min wait in the line outside, and am next to go. I notice that, as usual, I'm the loner in the crowd who doesn't know anybody even though there was between 8 to 10 guys in there. Only three actually shaving, with the rest just hanging around. I notice one guy looking like he's about to finish and began the five foot walk towards him. At the same time I notice Mr. Chatter Box to my left start stepping backward to emphasize the point of his story. I thought to myself, "Certainly he's not going to walk backward that far without looking over his shoulder." Well, I was wrong. When we collided, he immediately spun around and started yelling, "What the hell do you think you're doing, coming up behind me like that ?!" Immediately my logical side took over, and in 1/2 of a second I had already counted how many 12 inch floor tiles he had walked backward over, (6, by the way) and investigated the angle at which we struck. (Which showed he had run into me) However, I had just the previous day read an interesting tactic in my book, and decided to try it before exercising my logical analysis. So while he still blabbed this & that, I said, "Oh hey man, I'm real sorry. When I saw that gentleman finishing with those clippers, I just immediately headed for them, and was so focused on them that I didn't even see you. I truly hope you can understand man." To which he replied, "Yeah... Well... You know, you can't be just coming up behind guys like that." (All said in a studdering type manner, because he was totally thrown off.) So I proceeded to trim my beard, thinking the whole issue had been resolved. However, as I headed for the door, after I had finished, he stepped in front of me and... (now remember there's at least 8 of his buddies in this little place) He said, "Hey look man, we're okay and everything, right? I mean I'm sorry about all that back there." Well, after I picked my chin up off the floor, I said, "Oh yeah man. No problems. Just a simple misunderstanding, that's all." Then after he made a couple more reassuring comments, I made a particular statement I like to use in situations like this. I looked around at everyone and said, "You guys have got to understand something about me. I have to spend the remainder of my natural life behind these bars. Now I'll admit, I might not have any friends, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna have any enemies." I swear every guy in that room was clapping or laughing with the guy in front of me yelling, "I know that's right brother." I walked out the door with the thought in my head of how my logical reasoning would never have gotten me results like that.

Oh, that's not everything. Ever since that day, whenever I get in line to wait, the inmate assigned to run the barber shop (who of course was one of the 8-10 guys), he'll step out the door and tell me to come on in around everyone else.

So I guess there are all kinds of ways to handle an issue, but the main thing is try and avoid the issue from ever occurring in the first place.

So sorry sloppy, but I was in a hurry. Also, our table is getting used for something else.

Maze