The Plague Time Starts, #1

 The last few weeks have been a strange time for us in prison. We hear the Covid 19 news on the radio or see it on CNN and it feels a bit surreal. Then I spoke with K- about two weeks ago. She told me how the Anderson Wal-Mart had no  rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizers or toilet paper; also how CNAs in Indianapolis were getting $20.00 an hour. After that the prison published a notice about washing hands and a promise to refill the bathroom soap dispensers. Last week, they moved everyone from 5703 to other units, so that they could have a building for what we do not know but that doesn't stop us from speculating. General assumption is a place to put the infected even thought we do not see how that will work in practice. (I get infected, then it should be my room of 7 persons is also infected, then it should be assumed my whole unit is infected; therefore,, why clear out the building?) We presume this will be another Bureau of Prisons FUBAR.

Especially worrying was a town hall meeting the BOP put on for all the units this past Friday. management put ion the computer system the changes to our movements which cannot be printed out. I will try to summarize the highpoints. The Education, Chapel, and Gym buildings are closed. We will have programming in the unit buildings. We will have recreation outside of the building - only with our own unit. Each unit will eat on our own. for breakfast, we got a piece of cake and an apple and a packet of oatmeal in a Styrofoam clamshell. Lunch is supposed to be in the mess hall and dinner is to be in a brown paper bag. We have been divided into lower units (5702 and 5711) and upper units (5741, 5751, and 5752). The food works from the lower units working the AM shift and those from the upper working the PM shift. This looks like the only way for people from different units to mix. Books will be brought to the units for a library of sorts. 

Yeah, that's pretty much what is starting today. I think the FUBAR spot is noticeable, but lets see what happen.

One other thing from our town hall meeting. One of the inmates - one older and white and educated - asks since we're to get our hygiene issue (4rolls of toilet paper and 2 small bottles of soap)  why not give us another bottle of soap? AW  Smith pipes up to remind us we get more hygiene products issued us than any other institution. They also told us they would let us know when we'd get that previously scheduled hygiene issue. 

We also await our hand dispenser soap. I offer this as emblematic of the bureaucratic method: we are told to wash our hands with soap, that we have no soap is someone else's responsibility.

sch

3/23/30