What To Do While in Prison

The mystery and terror of serving a prison term are wearing off finally. Truthfully, the federal prison camp is very similar to a college dormitory mixed with a high school locker room atmosphere and there you have it. The rules are becoming clear, the food edible but awful, the slow roll is everywhere, and self-advocacy is a must.

The best approach I can determine to date is patience. The BOP staff is never in a hurry except at count. A few correctional officers play the role ‘super cops,’ and all an inmate can do is smile and comply. Mostly, it amounts to silly games. The actual work is avoiding trouble, doing your job, and finding First Step Act (FSA) programming.

The objective is straightforward: work, follow the rules, and take the FSA classes when they become available. The primary concern of the prison staff is the work crew - everyone works! That is the mission of the staff. It makes complete sense too. A workforce of very low-paid inmates who fill much of the prison complex jobs is the common workplace practice around here. The value to the inmate is not the low pay, very much slave labor, but rather the credit towards early release.

Set aside the laughable low wages offered at the BOP, the real value is earning the fastest route to the halfway house, home confinement, and finally probation. It is the quickest way to see freedom again. I can receive up to 15 days off per month. It is an invaluable piece of my early release strategy.

Do I care what job the prison staff assigns me? Not in the least. I am happy to work even the worst job assignment because the result is an early release. I think many inmates miss this observation and shoot themselves in the foot. The job doesn’t matter; it is the time off that counts.

The next piece of the puzzle is staying out of trouble. I’m realizing some C.O.’s go looking for trouble, and this might become an issue at some point. The C.O.’s attitude is something I cannot control and therefore not worth the worry. I can control my actions, and staying out of trouble is relatively straightforward. Some rules are counter-intuitive, but this becomes a matter of learning the ropes, so to speak. This is where being patient can pay off. I’m never in a hurry until I understand the situation I’m dealing with. It usually works to my advantage.

The last step is the FSA classes. The prison seems to play games with its obligation to FSA, but when made available valuable to enroll. It will take some time and patience to fully integrate the FSA into my early release strategy.

In the end, I should see tangible results towards early release and continue rebuilding a strained marriage.