House Smoke

There are maybe two of us here that are not smokers. Everyone else begs for smoke permission. There are "smoke passes" that people earn by doing tasks/chores that can be used during certain hours. Otherwise, residents have to wait until "House Smoke" is screamed down the hallway. I've learned of a suitemate who lost her smoke privileges, so she went into our bathroom to smoke and then tried to cover it up with perfume. So, now I smell smoke and cheap perfume - lovely!

#1 looks like she would be a kind woman. However, when she opens her mouth, her language and attitude is worst than those at the feds! She's very rude. No idea why she's here - she is just so bitter! She received a box of clothes from home, I imagine, and when she went through it and there were no jeans, she threw all the clothes across the room and started screaming and crying. I'm staying out of her way.

There are four of us who have come in over the last three days. One DUI, two drug-related and me. They couldn't figure out what I'd done. One didn't know what a "white collar" crime was. I was told, "you don't look like a druggie." Thanks, I guess.

I haven't figured out the institutional schedule yet. There are times we must be in our rooms and times we are not allowed in our rooms, times we line up to have a breathalizer, times for pills, times we can ask questions at the bubble, times we can't, times the tv can be one, etc. There does not seem to be any quiet time!

As mentioned above, one of my suitemates is on restriction. She is not allowed to leave her room, not even for meals. She keeps getting screamed at by her roommates. Everyone has such good communication skills here...

There seems a big difference between those from state jail and the few of us from the Feds. Many did almost no time inside - maybe a week or 30-90 days before they were sent in for this program. Being here, and doing the programming, is part of their sentence. (My roommate is groaning again, ugh...). They will do the vast majority of their time locked up here, except for the ability to go to work. From what I can see, I can't imagine this place helping anyone to a better life. The jobs are at McDonalds or being a room cleaner at a motel, and they make minimum wage. They won't be able to even pay rent with such low pay. Education, real rehabilitation, and manners would go farther. These women are so young, real 1-on-1 time and help would possibly move them forward.

A woman just came to our door to talk with #2. She said her boyfriend died last night. He'd been clean for 7 months, but she suspects he went and shot up again. She can't get the full story from anyone. Today, she happened to receive four letters from the guy, sad. She's going to try to use a smoke pass, in order to deal with her grief.