From Dragonfly: The Catwalk

Every morning, our current daytime C.O. yells, "get ready for inspection!" We are supposed to be inspection ready from 7:30am-4:00pm every day, but not every officer does rounds. Our current officer is serious about doing his rounds, taking anything anyone has out that does not belong - even a mug someone is drinking from but not at that second. In order to get your things back, you have to work extra duty (2+ hours of cleaning something in the unit). My room is always inspection ready in time. We all have our cleaning days and we are serious about making sure everything gets done - window, bars, lockers, floor, lining things at the back wall, desk, stool, dusting, etc. So far, so good.

When he yells, "get ready for inspection," everyone upstairs moves out to the catwalk. We sit on the hard, cement floor and read, crochet, talk, etc. Some days we sit there, against the wall for up to three hours, sometimes he will start upstairs and we'll just be there an hour or less. Most days, it's more than an hour. I sometimes take my blanket to sit on, because the cold cement can be horrible to sit on for a long period of time. Some people use their trash can, upside down as a chair. I find that uncomfortable due to the lip - but it's fine if I put a blanket folded on it and then sit. Mostly, I just sit on the ground. Up and down the corridor (which is what I would call the hallway, not a catwalk), everyone around is doing the same as me. We watch as our officer goes room to room - "what is he checking today?" "what did he just take from them?" Our conversations are usually the same questions everyday.

There will be those defiers, who choose to lay in their beds until he shows up. Then he bangs really hard on their locker to wake them up and asks them to step out of the room. His favorite phrase, "get your mind right," is constantly heard as he talks to folks that are in the way of his job. Most of us avoid that, so we tell our neighbor, "get me up when he comes upstairs..." We always do - inmates protecting each other.

It's an odd irony that we spend almost all morning on the catwalk, as our evening guard's favorite phrase is "get off the catwalk." With her, we are not allowed to sit anywhere on the corridor or stand by anyone's rooms. It is a constant to hear her yelling upstairs for people to "move out of doorways," and stop talking on the catwalk. As she walks into work each evening, we all yell, "get off the catwalk," and laugh. I wonder if she is annoyed with it. I think we do it out of respect - at least she is consistent!

On nights that she is not on duty, inmates will sit against their walls, or on their trashcans, and watch television from right outside their rooms. They keep the majority of the corridor free for people to walk, but they are able to avoid having to go up and down the 24 steps over and over again. The downstairs has a hallway/corridor, not a "catwalk," and people tend to go to the tables and atrium, rather than hang by their rooms. That's one of the "culture differences" between being on the second floor, to being on the first, there is more room visiting (against the rules but still happens) and people spending time just outside their rooms. Honestly, it is a more comfortable culture for me. I like being able to relax in/near my room, rather than always having to be surrounded by everyone.

The one thing we cannot ever do is hang out at the edge of the catwalk on the rails/poles that act as a fence to the great fall that would occur down to the first floor. Except during mail time, though, as many C.O.'s have us wait by the poles to see if our names are called. There is always an exception for every rule, and every C.O. does things differently. Otherwise, it is "get away from the rails!"

There are things that will have a hard time getting out of my head once I am back home. I have a feeling that, "get your mind right," and "get off the catwalk," will be statements in my dreams for years to come. It may be that inside joke that is shared by those of us who have survived this experience. In the meantime, I will sit in the catwalk during the day, avoid it at night, and never lean on the rails.