Buenos Noches!
I am in my fourth week of Spanish class. I was never very skilled at learning foreign languages but I seem to be doing ok. It feels good to be learning something that may prove useful once I return to the real world.
A guy in my unit injured his forehead the other day on the recreation yard. (We will call him Mr. Burns because He acts like the character from the Simpsons). Mr. Burns did not sustain his injury participating in any sporting activity. He injured himself tying his shoe! Mr. Burns bent over by the bleachers to tie his shoe and stood up quickly and hit his forehead on the metal bleachers. Nasty bump and cut on his forehead. This is not a particularly noteworthy event . However, once you injure yourself (particularly, your face or hands) on the compound, you have to check in with a corrections officer and tell him how you were injured. They are always looking for people injured in an altercation between prisoners. If you fail to check in, you can get pulled over at any time by a corrections officer and interrogated about your injury. If they are not satisfied with your response, you are off to the SHU. (Special Housing Unit) You can sit there for weeks while they “investigate”.
Speaking of the SHU, a young man on my unit was sent there yesterday. He made the mistake of touching a corrections officer. It was not done in an aggressive fashion, but that is not the point. You simply do not touch a corrections officer for any reason. This prisoner will sit in the SHU and then probably get transferred to a higher security level institution.
I am looking forward to the changing of the calendar to the month of February. One month closer to the door.
Ken Flaska
