A 24"x38" Locker

Two weeks ago we were called by the Unit Manager to a Town Hall meeting. He began the meeting by saying: "do not shoot the messanger!. This is an order from mr. Lappin [BOP's Director] from Washington;" He continued and said: "due to Washington's new policy to unify all federal prisons, straring February 1, 2006 you all will get rid of one locker; you can no longer have two lockers for your personal items". The reply from my fellow prisoners was shock and dissapointment. two weeks had passed and the ladies did not stop talking about the lockers, some got headaches, stomach-aches, vomiting, arguments and crying fits; others put on their strategic hats in plans to install two additional metal shelves in the locker that we will keep. For days all you heard was the run..run..run.. of the power drills drilling the holes for the shelves and the boom..., boom..., boom.... of the hammers installing the shelves. A team of ladies worked hard for long hours and a few days. There were boxes, cloths and personal items all over the place because we had to empty our two lockers in other for the working team to take the two shelves out of one locker and install them in the other locker. There are over 500 inmates at the camp so we are talking about over 1000 lockers. As you can imagine it is not an easy task to empty 4 lockers in a 8'x10' cubicle and place your personal property unsecured around the cubicle (yes there are some that steal in here). The mess, the drama from a few ladies and the loud noise of the hammers and drills on the metal clanging was driving me insane. I choose to walk and walk like a maniac to keep myself out of the housing units' drama; when I was peaceful walking my third mile round, a fellow prisoner asked me: "Guanipa, why haven't you said anything about the lockers; you have been incarcerated for almost 10 years, you must have lots of property"; I answered to her: "I have never accumulated or bought more than what I really need"; then she asked me: "so, you don't mind?", I replied: "no, I really do not"; she said: "why"; I responded: "because I wholeheartdly and mindfully refuse to get attached to anything in prison; I do not belong here, this is just temporary"; then I stoped my walking and looked into her eyes and said to her: "when I entered prison 10 years ago and I was not able to hold my sons in my arms anymore, I learned that it is not worth it to get attached to any material thing in life; if I have to wear raggedy cloths and overused shoes I will be proud as long as I am able to hold my sons in my arms every day". Dear friends you may wonder why we had such drama for the locker issue. It is not easy to live in a 24"x38" metal locker; just imagine for a second having all your personal property inside a 24"x38' locker; your cloths, legal documents, food, hygiene products, medicine, educational material, books, magazines and dishes, also our female items such as: make-up, manicure, pedicure set, rollers, combs, brushes, hair accessories, etc, etc, etc..... How we do that? Sometimes it amazes me how we humans get adjusted to almost everything in life; however keep in mind that we shall get adjusted only to the small space but never to the prison environment. The purpose of the present draconian sentences is for us to get adjusted to prison and take prison time as part of our normal life's path; do not get your mind distracted with that; because in a civilized and democratic society, social problems can not be resolved with long prison term inside a two person 8'x10' cubicle with one and one only 24"x38" metal locker. I love you all. Yraida (Leo).