Meet Inmate Number

By Ann

For a spring morning, it is unusually cold.  I stand shivering and ring the rusted buzzer clinging to the concrete wall and wait for the faceless voice to ask me what is my business here.  He buzzes me in and I struggle with the heavy, unwelcoming door.  Even though I feel a burst of warm air, it is less comforting than the freedom of the cold air still clinging to my back.  I am here for a conference with one of my incarcerated clients.  I have some bad news like I do most days and I have to give this information to a person who is residing in a living, institutional hell.

As I step through the threshold, all of my senses are immediately assaulted. 

I can smell sweat, urine, bad breath, and a staleness that can only be experienced and comprehended through the hoarding of human beings in a confined space. 

I see my client.  I see his dirty canvas jumpsuit and his dirty used canvas sneakers without any shoelaces.

I hear the cries of inmates housed like dogs and the barking commands of the faceless correctional officers over the intercom. 

I can feel the eyes of the prison always watching me whether it be in person or through the video cameras mounted all over the place.

As I stand there, I am reminded of a conversation that I overheard between two members of the general public. One was complaining that inmates have it so good on our tax dollars.  The other emphatically lamented that they have it better than most, what with 3 meals a day and a roof over their head.  I so wished they could be here with me.

The Experience of an Inmate with a Number

An inmate comes into the prison and gets a  number.  Inmate number replaces his or her name.  Inmate number is then given a cell.  The cell is smaller than most walk in closets.  In this cell, inmate number shares close quarters with another person.  This person may smell.  This person may be a sociopath.  This person may be a violent gang member.  This person may have a communicable disease.  This person may have nothing in common with inmate number.  But inmate number will spend much time with this person and if this person is lactose intolerant- inmate number will know.  This is because the toilet is in the middle of the cell without doors right next to the sink where inmate number will brush their teeth.  

Inmate number will get to work in prison and get paid for it.  Inmate number earns an average of $.16 an hour.  This is not even enough to buy a toothbrush at the end of the day.  And without money, inmate number will not be given toiletries, snacks, or soap.

Inmate number will wear the prison issued clothes.  The dirty canvas robe can never be cleaned enough.  Inmate number will get a pair of shoes that have holes in them.  Inmate number will get underwear and socks that are stained and soiled from the previous inmate number.  But inmate number cannot opt out of wearing the undergarments.

Inmate number will have to avoid fights, gangs, drugs, sexual predators, and write ups while being housed with other inmates.  Inmate number will be susceptible to sickness, staph infections, and other institutional maladies. Inmate number will have to fight the odds.  

So far all of those people in the dark who complain that inmates have too many rights, or that they have it so good in prison, I invite you to share a cell with inmate number.

Cancel your family vacation and let everyone experience this fun.   Who knows, as an added bonus, you or your family members may get raped, beat up, or come home with MRSA.  

The possibilities are endless.