any good days that you can recall?

[EarthMother]

oops, sorry. I forget that not everyone was in Straight, on 5th phase, etc. The OBS book was a notebook that stayed on the 5th phase desk. I think it stood for "Observations". Basically it was a tattle sheet. 5th phasers would write notes about other phasers - "John Smith looks guilty today." "Jane Doe is thinking about copping out." Stupid shit most of the time. Alot of it was invented, purely to look good in the eyes of staff who read it daily.

[ladyjerrico]

Dang.. I never knew such a thing existed, then again, I would always see staff (when I could) or 5th phasers writing frantically at the desk.. I always wondered why there was so much paperwork involved.

How can someone be so judgemental because of the way someone has a facial expression.. sounds like they were looking for reasons that wern't there so there was something to talk about in group.

[ladyjerrico]

LOL.. I remember hearing songs "in my head" too.. most of the time I thought of Simon and Garfunkel songs for some messed up reason.. I guess it was because that is what I grew up with when I was 5 years old.
So I guess I was trying to remember something that would help me "remain sober" without driving me nuts.. also it helped me try to think about things that happened that were good when I was younger. Mostly I would do that when I was "searching" the bedroom as an oldcomer :smile:

[kaydeejaded]

Rocking out!!! Holy shit I haven't thought about that phrase in a long time. I used to love to sing Sanitarium (sp?) in group when I was misbehaving and One and a couple other good Metallica songs that totally should of been the theme songs for Straight! :grin:

[ladyjerrico]

I think Metallica should redo the video of "One" and have live video from 28Daze mixed in with that movie they used for the 1st video.. that would be messed up.. but, it would send a message to those who were are and are still in programs like Straight.. it would make everyone think twice about going to places like that.. could be a bit controversail.. and if that's the problem.. hell, look at Eminem (I don't listen to his music, even though he's from Michigan.. because I hate rap music)

[Cleopatra2U]

Ha!  I remember singing "Sanitarium", "One", "In My Darkest Hour", and other depressing heavy metal songs in group.  I did it in my head most of the time; only very occasionally out loud because, at roughly 5'2" and 100 lbs. before entering Straight, I was quite a bit smaller than 90% of the 4th-and-5th phase girls who stood at the ends of the rows.  (You know, the girls who were big-boned to begin with, who put on a lot of weight whilst sitting idly on the lower phases.)  Some of those girls scared me!  Heck, even some of the petite ones scared me!  I thought everybody was crazy for the longest time.  I didn't know quite how to come out and say so, so I tried to run from a parked host-car (is that what you call it?) just a few days after my intake.  I failed to escape, and, after getting reamed a new asshole (not literally, but sure as hell figuratively) in not one but several raps, I became very quiet, timid, mousy...  Not much like I was before entering Straight, and not much like I am now.

Anyway, on the topic -- my best memory of Straight was when I was on 4th phase.  I worked at a little ice-cream shop in a mall in Tyson's Corner.  Because I was on 4th phase, and FINALLY allowed to have a little fun, I frequented the arcade around the corner on my lunch breaks.  I don't remember if that was every day or just on certain days, but I do know I was following the rules, as I understood them, TO THE LETTER because [a] I really did want to be sober and I figured that being honest and following the program was my easiest ticket out of the place.  Anyway, one day, the arcade owner -- a middle-aged Indian man who smelled funny -- gave me a stuffed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle -- Donatello, I think.  I remember riding a Metro bus back to the Straight building in Springfield.  It was a beautiful, sunny day; I was listening to some good tunes on my Walkman; and I was holding my already-beloved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  It was about as good as life could get in Straight.

Unfortunately, a few days later, I got set back for accepting a gift from a man (the middle-aged Indian arcade owner, who was NOT attractive to me WHATSOEVER), a man who did not seem to have any ulterior motive for giving me the toy other than making a kid's day.

[ladyjerrico]

How did staff find out about the man that gave you the turtle? Did you talk about it in group? or did staff kinda plug away with questions until the honesty factor hit?
I had to give up a lot of things when I was in Straight too.. a list of "drug paraphanalia" (a few things I forgot I had that my mom found and told staff.. needless to say I got reamed a new one for forgetting and it wasn't intentional).
It must have been great having that much freedom at your job, and not have to worry about being yelled at as much for doing something wrong like you were in group.

Since I was on 1st phase most of the "program" I gained a lot of wieghed.. I went in being 175 pounds and went to 220 in just 7 months!
Since I had a baby 8 years ago, I still can't take the wieght off. However, I'm not one of these stay-at-home heffers that do nothing all day. I do have a job, but sad to say, I need to sit in a cubical all day so there isn't much time to walk around when I want to.
The good side to this is that my legs are totally muscular and I can lift my fiance who is 180 pounds! I still can't believe I can do that because I don't work out.. must be something I'm doing that I know nothing about

[Cleopatra2U]

On 2002-05-05 18:59:00, ladyjerrico wrote:
How did staff find out about the man that gave you the turtle? Did you talk about it in group? or did staff kinda plug away with questions until the honesty factor hit?

I forget exactly how staff found out about the turtle...  I think another "inmate" noticed me with it, asked me about it, and, after I told them, raised a concern on me that went all the way up the chain-of-command to staff.

Since I was on 1st phase most of the "program" I gained a lot of wieghed.. I went in being 175 pounds and went to 220 in just 7 months!

I can relate.  I had always been tiny until I got to Straight; then I went from the 100 lbs. I mentioned earlier to 130, which seemed huge to me at the time.  I'm, uhumm, somewhere between 120 and 130 now, with 10 of that being lbs. I too cannot seem to lose after having a baby.  I readily admit that I could stand to lose a few of these lbs., but I don't think 130 is nearly as gross now as it was when I was 16!  :wink:

[ This Message was edited by: Cleopatra2U on 2002-05-05 19:21 ]

[ladyjerrico]

LOL.. "inmate".. but then again, we were sortof in a prison environment.. actually I think the prisoners in jail might have had more freedom than we did being in Straight, at least prisoners can walk outside in a gated and guarded area without being beltlooped and also be allowed to watch TV without having to recite a shitload of things from memory.
130 pounds is a wieght I know that I'll never see.. when I wieghed 175 I was able to wear size 9 jeans! I don't know if I'll see that either.. but I'm wanting to work on it this summer.
I must say that I'm not too thrilled about my wieght either.. I am 5 foot 6 inches tall and being nearly 50 pounds overwieght. I'm glad that summer is nearly right around the corner so I can do some swimming (which is my favorite sport). I'm yet to go out and play some tennis (I just moved to another city and they have a tennis court in my complex I live at now).

[ladyjerrico]

uh.. hmm.. that last message didn't show my whole post  .. ??

[bettypills]

it meant Obs, short for OBSERVATIONS. Obs Book. Big Brother, what' that? 5th phasers could gossip and get away with it, and what's worse, we probably enjoyed it. What teenager doesn't like to gossip? HA ha, um, ha?

[dreammagician]

It's a creepy thought. All those warm feelings. Straight was a warped place with a weird leader in charge. Dr. Newton was a controler to the high degree. To this day I think people are looking at me and I get paranoid because of constantly being observed in there.

[infanalyst]

If I remember correctly it stood for OBServation Book.

[infanalyst]

Oops, I messed up. I thought I was at eh end of the previous page.
Anyways, my best memory of Straight (other than the day I got out), was right before the end of my stay in Straight. I think I had done enough time after 20 months and I had only reached day 60 or so of 4th phase when I finally split. Having received either 4 or 5 startovers and over 6 months on my first phase, the first time around, I was dying to end my time there as soon as possible.
As I was saying I was on 4th phase and since I had been out of school for so long I decided I would try and work instead. I wound up actually working for a Senior Staff Member in his side business which was cleaning houses. We would clean approximately 2-4 houses daily and this would occupy our time for quite a while. Well, one day while cleaning this one house of a graduate of the program, she comes walking out in this towel and she looks right at me and my boss and she knows she's not supposed to be doing this but she just starts to let the towel drop. Well, of course I freaked and my boss, just starts cracking up hard core. I thought it rather funny later on when some female staff members got wind of what happened later on and started confronting me later on, and I just told them to stick it, cause I was right there next to a Senior Staff Member the whole time. That was a memorable experience.

[Diane B]

Hello,

My name is Diane we just missed each other in Va.  I copped out off of 4th phase and was then withdrawn in March 1986.  Nice to see ya here.  OK I can't help it I am Dying to know, who was the Sr staff member and who was the graduate? That is a hysterical story! hope to see you here more often.