This week… I wanted to share a little “day in the life” story…
Over the course of this journey I have been pleasantly surprised time and time again by the ways in which guys in here find their light within the darkness. Most of the time… as I have written about… it coincides with a holiday or some sort of event in which guys find joy in playing bingo… eating a holiday meal… listening to live music on the yard or (the one that I find hilarious)… the pure joy they get out of receiving a holiday bag packed full of all the sugary and spicy treats their adult palates’ could possibly enjoy. But this past week… I was lucky enough to experience another event that was refreshingly new to me that really made me take a second and appreciate the fact that although I am living in the darkness… there are moments of light that propel me through the shadows here at T.I.
So… it was Wednesday morning… 4:30am and I just got to work… the first thing that happens when we arrive in the kitchen is we take a seat in the dining area and get counted because back in the unit… there is a “5am count” so we need to be accounted for. As soon as count clears… one of the officers informs us that they are planning on power washing the dining room today so all of the tables will need to be cleared. This happens once a quarter apparently but it was my first time experiencing it. Immediately… I begin to hear the moans and groans of the workers because when anything needs to be “cleared” or “cleaned” behind these walls… surprise surprise… someone in a khaki suit is going to be doing it. And on top of the physical labor that was about to take place… we all assumed that the dining hall would be closed today and everyone would be getting “brown bags” aka peanut butter and jelly sandwiches… an apple… and a milk for lunch and dinner. On the “brown bag days”… not only does everyone have to eat this not so amazing meal for both chow times but once again… someone needs to put together 1,050 of these brown bags for every guy on the compound and us kitchen workers are the lucky bunch who get to complete this task.
But not today… today is a special day… today the powers that be decided to break the mold and make what could be a negative event… a positive one. We are informed that as we are taking the tables out of the dining room… they would like us to arrange them on the north yard in a way that can be easily accessed because today is going to be “Picnic Day at T.I.”. Picnic Day??! The officers decided that instead of making everyone eat brown bags for the day… we are going to serve chow normally and allow everyone to choose a table outside on the north yard and enjoy their meal out there. Not only that… but Wednesday happens to be burger and fries day for lunch so we are going to set up a little ketchup, mustard, Mayo and topping station right outside the doors… pull the Halo Top ice cream bars out of the freezer for a sweet treat post burger and just like that…. a frustrating… bring the mood down around the compound… negative type of day has been transformed into a huge positive. It was awesome to see all the guys show up for chow… initially confused as to why all of the tables were set up in the middle of the yard but then pleasantly surprised to find out that it was “T.I Picnic Day”… as one guy put it… “Give me a beer and some music and my judge better never find out how nice of a day I’m having!” Not sure if I would go that far but when you are living behind these walls… any positive deviation from the norm is one that should be greatly appreciated… and from the looks of things last Wednesday… burgers by the beach was certainly a welcomed event.
All in all… the whole thing made me smile. And I am always grateful for that.
Stay Healthy. Stay Active. Go Enjoy A Picnic out there 🙂