Food Factory Update

June 19, 2009

"You come. You help now," Ms. Chen told me, panic in her voice. "I have to go," I responded point at the rest of the work crew preparing to board the bus headed back to Manzanita unit. "You
come," she continued, pointing in the direction of the kitchen area. "No, Chen, I'm going back to the unit now," I told her again.

The kitchen hadn't been fully cleaned up by the two inmate cooks before it was time to leave. COII Lee had told us that when it's time for us to leave that we are to drop everything and go. No matter what the white-shirts say.

"Come with me," Mr. Yuslava told me. Following the short, Mexican white-shirt manager, I was lead into the kitchen. "Clean," he demanded, pointing at the industrial size kettle. "I've got to go," I told him. "No, you clean," the manager told me, trying to assert his authority over me. "No, I have to go. Lee told me to go, so I have to go," I explained. A look of anger on his face, Yuslava tried to intimidate me, as I'd noticed over the past few weeks he did to his subordinate white-shirts. Mainly Mary, Chen and the other Chinese ladies. It worked with them. They seemed to fear him and jumped when he said jump.

"I don't work for you. I work for DOS. Lee says my job is done, so you're shit out of luck. You clean up See ya." I told him, turning and walking away. "You're no good!" he responded heatedly. "Bye," I yelled to him and waved as I boarded the prison bus.

The Food Factory has a decent group of white-shirts working with us who treat us respectfully and are even friendly and fun to work with, but Mr. Yuslava needs to learn some management skills as well as social skill if he intends to continue to control the work place. Orangemen continue to loose respect for him and will never respect his authority if he continues to treat his subordinates and us badly, s I believe he is. I've already heard his managerial technique compared to one of a third-world sweat-shop manager's.

There are two COII security guards who9 regularly work with us at the Food Factory. COII L. and COII W. L. is a good person who lets us do our job, does his job, and treats us all like we treat him. With respect and like a person. W. is equally professional and decent, as well as funny and personable. All of the guys like her and it's not only because she's hot (my opinion and other) but because she's a good person who happens to be a Correctional Officer (she's worked for HDOC for many years too).

Overall, I like the Food Factory job. Let's hope that Mr. Yuslava moves or changes. I won't accept how he treats us or the white-shirts, so this may be a short lived job for me. I'll wait and see. Maybe he'll learn and better himself.

Why do people act like Mr. Yuslava, knowing it's not going to prduce good results?

Mandarin Food Factory Worker

June 4, 2009

On June 1, 2009, I began a new job assignment. Despite years of resistance, and multiple disciplinary actions, I am back inside the Canteen Corp. Kitchen duties. Shaun Attwood and I were the only orangemen on Santa Rita unit who adamantly refused kitchen duty, costing up both disciplinary sanctions. My resistance lasted a few years which can be read about here in 06/07 posts.

No worries, Shaun. I've accepted a position at their Food Factory Warehouse away from food preparation and serving areas. My views on working around food has not changed, nor has ACOD & Canteens' willingness to utilize medically unfit inmates to make & serve food, but they are well aware of my views and my self-imposed limitations.

Just like the unit level kitchens, the safety requirements aren't strictly adhered to, but unlike the units, the safety equipment is available upon request.

The guard who supervises the orangemen workers, COII Lee, is a decent guy. He basically lets us do our jobs and mediates with the contract kitchen supervisors (white-shirts) for us.

My assigned white-shirt supervisor's name is Mary. She's a small, quiet Chinese lady. Her English isn't too good, but it's far better than the other two Chinese ladies working at the Food Factory. One of them hardly speaks or understands English at all and uses Mary to translate. I like them all just fine and they're hard-working.

I work Monday through Friday, 6 am til 2 pm at the max pay rate for an ADOC inmate. Fifty cents an hour. My job consists of washing dishes, pots and ans all day. Yea, I'm a dishwasher! LOL. There are currently 28 of us employed.

I suspect that this job was intended to slow, if not cease, my blogging. But it will do nothing of the sort. I will gladly accept the pay, time away from Manzanita unit, and the potential opportunity for more to blog.

In all honesty, it's a relief to get out of the dorm all day. Idleness in prison is a huge contributing factor in bad attitudes, bad habits and bad behaviors. Three things fatal to rehabilitation, recovery and a better life.

If nothing more, I'm learning a little Mandarin Chinese: "zo ki" (rhymes with No Pie) and means: go away. I prefer to work alone and although Mary and the others are friendly and helpful, I like my solitude.

Torture and Murder cont.

Still a bit sensitive about my young age (24), I took her statement to the guard as her calling me a child and retorted "You need a time-out. I'm not your kid. I'm out of here. I quit!"

Now irritated that I spoke to the kitchen worker harshly, the guard handcuffed me and took me to the RTW cages. Removing his cuffs through a slot in the cage door, he left me there.

The 8' x 10' x 8' chainlink cage had no shade from the sun from just after sunrise until just before sunset. It was around noon when I went in the cage. The asphalt ground was my only seat. Within minutes, I was drenched in sweat and miserable.

Stripping my shirt off, I paced back and forth, desperate for the slightest breeze to cool my overheated body. I'd been in the cage for a couple of hours without a single guard passing by, let alone checking on my welfare. "Hey! I need some water!" I yelled as loud as I could, hoping that somebody in the kitchen or the nearby administrative offices would hear me and come to check on me. Nobody came.

After about five hours in the searing Arizona sun without water, my head was pounding, my skin was sunburned, and my mouth parched, I shed my pants and layed down wearing only boxers, shoes and socks, disoriented and exhausted.

"Put your clothes back on," I heard a female voice say. "Can I get some water?" I asked, not looking up or even opening my eyes. I was so tired and hot.

"I'll get you some water, but you need to get dressed," the voice told me. Willing the strength to open my eyes and look up, I saw the administration staff walking back to her office, which had a window that directly looked out at the RTW cage. She'd watched and listened to me suffering for hours, I later thought.

Remaining prone on the pavement, I managed to slip my pants back on and drape my shirt over my bare chest.

It seemed like minutes later when I heard the jingling of keys and I was told to get my shirt on and head back to my cell. Unsteadily, I did as I was told. It was an exhausted walk.

Immediately upon entering my cell, I forced myself to guzzle cup after cup of water, pouring some over my pounding head. I had lost my thirst.

This is a common practice in ADOC. It has been for years. In my opinion, it is cruel and unusual punishment and a callous disregard to human life. I also believe that those who utilize this practice should face criminal and civil liability. In my eyes, it serves no legitimate penalogical purpose and is plain and simple torture and murder.

For more on the Perryville incident, visit: Middleground Prison Reform's website.

Torture and Murder of Prisoners?

May 26, 2009

Recently, a female ADOC prisoner at the Perryville complex died in Goodyear, AZ, after guards left her in an outdoor pen exposed to the blistering sun. I don't know the details of what exactly occurred in Goodyear or what corrective action ADOC had taken, but I can attest that this type of correctional practice of leaving prisoners for long periods exposed to the harsh elements is common practice throughout ADOC year-round. The pens used are commonly referred to, by guards and prisoners, as Refusal To Work Cages, "RTW Cage". A similar event was also previously disclosed in my blog in November/December 2008. I've experienced this practice first-hand in the past many times. Here's my recollection of one of those times.

It was summer in Buckeye, AZ. 120 degrees F was the average temperature in summer. I was assigned to work in the unit kitchen as a baker.

Preparing the batter for chocolate cake, to be served at dinner that night, I went to the dry-goods storage room and got the two large bags of cake mix necessary to feed hundreds of prisoners.

Dumping the bags' contents into the industrial size mixing bowl, I added water and turned on the mixer. As the mixer paddle began to mix the chocolate batter, I went in the walk-in cooler. Grabbing two 6 inch pans of chocolate pudding, left-over from days ago, which would expire and was to be discarded that night, I brought them to the mixer and added them to the batter.

I'd learned that adding pudding to the poor quality cake mixes remedied its' turning out dry, flavorless and near impossible to serve in one piece. Not part of the ADOC approved recipe, but a necessity. Strangely, both the cake and pudding individually are poor quality, but combine are great.

"What are you doing?" The contract kitchen worker asked me, as I finished adding the pudding. "I'm adding left-over pudding to the cake. It makes it moist and taste more like chocolate," I explained. "I didn't tell you you could use pudding. It's not on the production sheet," She raised her voice, trying to assert her authority over me. Now annoyed, I responded, "I didn't ask your permission. You make it if you don't like how I'm doing it".

"Officer, I'm sending him home. He's getting mouthy and needs a time-out," she told the guard, pointing at me. She wouldn't fire me, as I'd refused to train someone to replace me for months and they had nobody else with any experience.

To be continued....

Response to Anne Mini

Shannon wrote a response to Anne Mini's blog that featured Shaun Attwood as a guest writer. The link is http://www.annemini.com/?p=4171#comment-26626 to check it out! And respond if you'd like. The whole article and all of the comments are great.

My Response to Anonymous Commentator

May 22, 2009

In response to an anonymous commentator wanting more prison war stories ("The Dirt") and less advocacy and correctional facts ("Politics"):

I created this blog to: (a) speak my mind, (b) show society where, what and who their tax dollars are going to, (c) advocate for rehab, reform and change in corrections, courts and society regarding felons, prisoners and the views many in society have about them, (e) prevent others from following in the footsteps that landed me in prison, and lastly (f) entertainment (Mine, not yours! LOL). (But I'd have to say we are entertained, Shannon...blog administrator).

I would like all who read to get something from what I write, but I can't and won't attempt to please the few and turn my back on the many while compromising my intentions and cause. I'd be no better than many of today's politicians, were I to do this. I don't want to lose any readers, but if it's only war stories you want to read, then you'd be better served elsewhere. Buh-Bye now.

Special thanks to Pixie, pUnKhair2Nv (so we meet! hello), Jeff, Jennifer, and Chris for your comments and support. You are all great and much appreciated.

Microwave Etiquette

May 16, 2009

The following computer generated posting was affixed to the bulletin boards in all Manzanita unit dorms above the microwaves:

MICROWAVE ETIQUETTE

• Please do not allow the microwave to "Ding" or "Bing". Remove your item BEFORE the time has run out.
• Please clean up after yourself EACH AND EVERY TIME you use the microwave.
• Please cover ALL OF YOUR FOOD to avoid making a mess or damaging the microwave.
• Please DON'T SLAM THE DOOR as there are people who must live right next to the microwave.
• Please do not attempt to dry your boxers or socks in the microwave. (ESPECIALLY YOUR BOXERS).
• Please BE RESPECTFUL in the way you treat the microwave as that it will last.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

ROFLMAO!! I live in the bed right next to the microwave. It's literally two feet from my head! I've yet to see the micro-drying, but I've seen stranger things in prison.