Wednesday June 26, 2024 – Grinding in OKC
Well I thought there was a chance I would leave overnight but I did not. The flight to Atlanta never happened, which all of us going to Alabama in the unit thought happened on Wednesday but now we are thinking it maybe happens early Thursday morning, so it is possible I could leave overnight tonight.
One thing that is humorous about the BOP is the difference answers and reactions you get from different correctional officers that work in the unit. Prior to last night we had the same officer for about 4 straight evenings. He had no issue letting inmates know if they were leaving overnight. The guy last night, however, didn’t want to tell anyone anything which sucks because it leaves us in the dark. It is nice to know if you can sleep through the night or that you might get a knock on your door in the middle of the night.
I think one of the most difficult thing about being in the OKC transit center for a prolonged period is the inmates have no access to sunlight or fresh air. The outdoor area for each unit is a square brick enclosed space with some narrow slots through the bricks, on one side of the square, that allow air in. There is nothing to do out there either, it is just a square asphalt area with the following painted on the wall “55 LAPS = 1 MILE”. I find it kind of depressing and hard to go out there. When I was transferring to Yazoo 17 months ago, and came through OKC, they at least had a television in the outside area, and you could pull a chair out there and watch tv.
They put a wrapped blueberry pop tart in our breakfast tray this morning to accompany the crappy generic bran cereal and apple which was a nice surprise. That is pretty much the highlight of the day so far. I am hoping next time you hear from me I am in Atlanta. All of us going to Atlanta are kind of dreading it because the people who passed through Atlanta in our housing unit before they came to OKC are telling us some terrible things. They are saying the cells in the holdover unit are filthy, at best you get to come out 3 hours a day, they don’t give you shower shoes, and the mattresses aren’t even full mattresses and are cut short. We all still are ready to get there because it puts us one step closer to the Prison Camp and is the last stop before things get infinitely better. The bus to Alabama supposedly leaves there every other Monday, so I am praying we get to Atlanta the week there is a bus the next Monday.