Shifting Gears

What I was going to post about the other night before the internet so rudely shut me down, was that I worked in a GP house for a change.  That was kind of odd.

The two houses that I usually work in... 10 & 25... are open bay houses.  Like dormitories.  Anywhere from 30 to 60 inmates in a big open bay with bunkbeds all in a line.  Kind of intimidating the first time you have to walk all the way down to the end of the wing amidst all of those offenders by yourself.  And nothing between you and them but.... air.            And attitude.

And pepper spray, of course. (grin)

But it was what I had gotten used to.  Those had been my houses for what?  Nine, ten months now?

Suddenly the other night I end up in 3 house.  A "General Population" house.  Four wings.  Fifty or less in a wing.  Two men max to a cell.  And each and every cell has a heavy steel door which locks shut and doesn't open again until we say so.  Very controlled.

Like a different world.  Or at least a different prison.

The offenders were pretty much the same, though.  As a matter of fact, many of them were the same.  They had either passed through or flunked out of the treatment programs in one of the other houses and went back out to GP to finish their sentence.  Or get ready to go home, either way.

In some ways it was much nicer than the other places I normally work.  In those houses when my officers go out into the wings i have no way of watching over them unless I physically follow them or rush into the bubble and watch them on the cameras.  And even then there are places where I cannot see them.  Lots of places.

But in a GP unit I can stand up in the bubble and watch everywhere my people are at all times unless they step inside a cell.  And even then I know which cell they went into.  It was kind of nice and relaxing in a way, even if it was a bit strange.

As a matter of fact, the Sergeant position for that house was open and I was considering bidding on it.  But then I got sick and missed the deadline.  No big deal, because Sgt Archer bid on it and got it and he would have beat me anyway on time.

And I'm not really all that sure I want to be tied back down to one single place again.  I stayed down in the Hive for too long and got burned out to want to go to the same place every single day, I think.

Now that Archer got the 3 house spot I am going to bid on his yard relief spot when it comes open.  Two days on A yard, two days on B yard and one day on utility, pretty much like I have now.  And with winter coming on, not too many people are going to be wanting to go out on the yard.

We'll see what happens, I guess.