I grew up watching the TV show, "The Facts of Life." It started when the "students" were still teenagers and away at boarding school... as the actresses grew up, the show transitioned with them to follow them into college. I loved the show - there was Jo, the tough boyish girl who didn't quite 'fit in.' Blaire, the popular cheerleader type. Tootie, the only African American among all Caucasians. Natalie, the overweight, friendly, gullible one. And overseeing them all was Mrs. Garrett. She was the den mother, confidante, all-knowing, loving, disciplinarian to them all.
The other day, I was thinking about how much life at Carswell is similar to "The Facts of Life." We have people from all walks of life living together. We deal with cat-fights, jealousy, racism, weight issues, difficult relationships, friendships, academic successes and failures, missing family, and we even have our own "Mrs. Garrett." The daytime C.O. in my unit is a woman named Mrs. Garrett.
I don't know if our Mrs. Garrett ever watched "The Facts of Life," but she certainly has many of the characteristics of the TV personality. She does her best to not have favorites. She is quite the disciplinarian. She is a confidante to many. She can be caring. The inmates seem to look up to her. She is tough, but is, also, well respected. They may look nothing alike, but the two Mrs. Garretts certainly have some things in common.
As for me, I don't really know Mrs. Garrett all that well. I try my best to stay out of the C.O. office - plus I work most of the days that she's on duty. But, I can say, that a different in a daytime C.O. can mean the difference from a well-organized unit and one that is in distress. When I first arrived here, we were always last or second to last in the meal rotation. This is due to the fact that our unit was consistently scoring low on inspection. Mrs. Garrett came along and told everyone that she expected better, and we did better. We have consistently been in the top three units (and always the top unit in the high rise) since her arrival. More often than not, we are #1 - scoring a perfect 100.
This is cause for some competition, as other units try to beat us. Also, there seems to be some difficulty among staff at times. For example, this week, when they came around to inspect the unit, two rooms were written up - including mine - for dust in the window sill. Mrs. Garrett immediately checked both rooms and knew that it was a false 'write up' and "got into it" with the inspector. I am never here during inspection (it's during the times I work), but that's one thing I really appreciate about a good C.O., they will stick up for their unit. That's a lot like Mrs. Garrett from the show, who always stuck up for her girls as well.
A new daytime C.O. will rotate in next month (January). I will not likely be here to see what happens. I suspect that unfortunately, the unit will stop being so organized and things will start to fall again. It will likely be a C.O. who may not care as much about the unit - they will do their job - well, but won't take that extra time and energy to see us as individuals rather than just inmates. I appreciate the tough C.O.'s that are fair to all. That describes Mrs. Garrett and our own "facts of life."
Hi Dragonfly, I have been keeping up with ur blog, checking daily for updates. I have sent comments here an there an hope ur able to get them. As I mentioned in one comment I too used to be a CO, an I guess I was a Miss Garrett, I took pride in treating the ladies an the men exactly as my mother taught me, treat others how you wish to be treated. I figured that we never know at any time that could be our mother, sister, spouse or other family in that same position an I would want them treated with respect as I would myself. It doesn't take much out of a person to just listen without judgment, an for some who are confined, you may very well be the only one they have to confide in. But alas I no longer do that job as dealing with the coworkers an supervisors who thought you were a terrible person if you didn't treat all the inmates horribly. Ok I have gone on long enough just glad you have someone who does their job correctly an stands up for what is right. I wish you well on your upcoming move across the street an hope it goes as well as it can for where you are.
ReplyDeleteFrom Dragonfly: She lives in my unit and her laundry time is just before mine. She is still wearing the "blue shoes" so she may need to the funds to purchase sneakers (much more comfortable and important in this weather). I'm sure she has called home by now. I told her to not be angry at her daughter, as she was just looking out for her well-being. She was annoyed with the 45 minute time limit on the dryer (as we all are) since her clothes were not yet fully dry, so our conversation was not all that formal. Plus, since I was the one needing to get into the dryer, that was a bit awkward. Ha. She seemed very nice and still very scared.
ReplyDelete