Live and Learn
I am presently in my Reentry class watching a stultifyingly boring video that tries to jam an entire course in rehabilitation into a TV program. To be fair, it is not completely horrible, but it is no more effective than trying to learn French in 2 hours. It ignores the nature of learning. In essence, it is a fig leaf for a system that has given up on realistic forms of rehabilitation that take time. The keyword is money.
I am actually supposed to be on “S” time, but the “DMS” sheet listing S timers won’t come out until later. so I was summoned into the class for this one day only. Almost immediately an inmate asked to look at my New Yorker and I let him. This irritated me. Number 1, why the hell can’t anyone else ever anticipate the likelihood they will be bored in a situation here and bring a book or a magazine? (The only one I have seen do so is Hippie. Number 2, why didn’t I just tell him no? (On break, he returned the magazine to me, asking if he could hold his place in it. I asserted myself, telling him I brought the magazine so I could read it. Now, of course I started this entry but will be returning from break, so I will feel obliged to read the magazine rather than continue writing this. Errch! Anyway it’s all a pretty good opening for the blog topic of the day “Pet Prison Peeves.”
I hate to admit, some of these pet peeves break down on racial/ethnic lines. But I feel pretty safe that doesn’t mean they are racist/culturally superior in nature. You be the judge.
1) It drives me batty how much the African-American men use the N-word. I fully understand that they don't mean it “that” way, but to my ears it betrays a stunning ignorance of their own history. I’ve heard this same observation from Oprah. By the way, five of her best shows would make for a better pre-release program than the video I’m watching now.
2) I can’t stand how rappers seem to want to both alienate and shock you at the same time. Yet they take offense when you show this very reaction when you do listen to the music.
3) What is it with Latin men and not using Kleenex (Called toilet paper in here but is readily available)? They insist on holding one nostril closed while blowing out the contents of the other nostril. They do this outdoors sometimes, but often enough, they do it into the bathroom sink. Yes, they wash down what comes out, but it is disgusting nonetheless (I have seen this habit in old French Villagers; I imagine it is a holdover from Kleenex-free childhoods).
4) I can’t stand the way white inmates call each other “dog” and “homie” incessantly and use “fuck” or “fucking” every other word, even when recounting the simplest, most inoffensive of stories. It is an abuse of the language and hopelessly conforming to the lowest common denominator of conduct.
5) I’ve hated the way C.O.’s and often other inmates assume that prison regulations, procedures, mores and slang are familiar to everyone sans explanation. Yes, I know this is so because they have known such things themselves for so long that they can’t imagine anyone else not knowing them (I know the reasons for most of the things I complain about, but that doesn’t make them less irritating).
Or does it? My father used to quote a French proverb “Comprendre, c’est tout pardonner” (To understand is to forgive everything) But I just saw it cited in the New Yorker, as the opposite: “Ne Rien Comprendre, c’est tout pardonner” (To understand nothing is to forgive everything). This poses an interesting quandary. Which is it? Meanwhile, Mr. Magazine came back late from break, because he ran to his dorm to get a magazine of his own to read.
I think this is progress.
MCO 2004
P.S. I take it back, the video is horribly done. What’s my solution? Fund schools, not prisons. The cure is prevention.
P.P.S. An unexpected moment in the class. A student actually answered a question from the teacher and opened up a little about his life. “This is my first term, my mom is in C.I.W. for her second term, for bank theft. My problem is alcohol. I had a job, a car, a baby daughter, and then I started drinking again and then everything fell apart. I don’t know what to do.” The poor guy was obviously petrified of drinking when he got out, and very brave to share his fears in a class that was being completely non-responsive.
The instructor is not a bad guy, but he offered some pablum about changing ones thinking. Obviously the boy needs intense, one-on-one counseling of the type that the system does not supply.
This is not one of those blogs where I end up talking to the inmate in trouble, thereby throwing a bone to myself and to those of you who like to think one person can make a difference.
I will point out that his identification of alcohol as the “drug” that gets him in trouble is something I’ve heard said in here as many times as I’ve heard the same about crystal meth. Yet I never hear anyone proposing we re-illegalize alcohol. But people will cite these sorts of anti-social consequences of drug use to justify its prohibition.
If drugs were legalized,( as I advocate) the illegal behaviors that stem from their use, like driving under the influence, would remain against the law and subject to the Force of Law, just as they are now as they pertain to alcohol. But I have yet to hear anyone come up with a convincing argument that drugs do any more harm than alcohol. In fact, mortality rate would suggest otherwise. Welcome to my campaign platform for 2012.
