I was very fortunate to be assigned the cellmate I received. We both come from the same area in California, and have a lot in common on many aspects including the Criminal Justice System. We work together in the dish room and have had numerous discussions about our situations helping each other cope with the day to day stress of being separated from your family and having no ability to provide support for your loved ones.
The stress for any man being thrust into this environment can be a metal drain often you can find yourself getting bothered by the most meaningless thing, only to realize that it is the stress of daily prison life manifesting itself through any available annoyance.
After a few weeks of being here I developed the motto “Bridges not fences”. We use it all the time when forced with a decision on how to react to something. With 450 men living in tight quarters we have to interact with each other constantly. Building bridges is much more productive than building fences. Embracing the unique traits each man has, and looking for a way to positively interact makes our existence much better than building fences, and trying to avoid someone.
