Been there done that, as stated before BOTH Straight and Prison, but I did not WORK there, and I feel bad for the folks who do work for the corrections system. My buddy up in Ocala, works as a CO and he brings home 450.00 a week, while I was on unemployment for 3 months last year I was making 495.00 per week sitting at home playing with my children. Now don't you think that you putting your life on the line on a daily basis for that little pay is ridiculous. He thought so.Yea your right I was able to smoke and go to the commissary, have visit's, I even got clothes and new tennis shoes from home once every 6 months. Maybe in the prison you work at the girls don't have to fight for the smokes they buy, or the candy they purchase or the new shoes that were sent from home, maybe they didn't have to chase other nationalities around with mop ringers and homemade knives so they can keep their perssonal items, maybe they did'nt have to, but I did and it was no picnic. Take a look at how the races are divided in your facility, it's NOT this lovely diverse meeting of the minds. Did you ever see a guy get stabbed in the eye with a fork because he took a piece of bread off another guys plate? Did you ever see a riot take place because one nationality wanted to watch a basketball game and the other wanted to watch a sitcom? Yea we had TV and 50 guys had to agree on one channel-try and accomplish that. Have you ever stabbed someone who was trying to take your soap you got sent from home? Well I did and at the time it felt damn good, you better believe the cat never stole another thing from my locker for the short time that I was left at that facility, they don't like trouble makers so they send you from facility to facility until you spend all your time in confinement, which was half of my time. Try spending some time in confinement, it's a lovely smell in the hallway of feces because the cat in the next cell is deranged and throwing feces all out in the hall, then you get told no food cause the guards won't come down and serve.
Sorry to rant on this, but all of you who have NOT been in both situations cannot say what it's like, you can assume and even make a judgement on which you'd prefer. But when you work there,YOU are on the other side of the fence and as you probably say to your inmates JUST like they did to me "at least I go home at night".
Been there done that. One good thing, at least I can go home at night too:)
Mark