Ugly Rumors

It was my night up in the comm room, of course. And we all know nothing ever happens up there.

I was well into the shift change rush and Brother D hadn't made it up there yet so I was flying solo for the moment, trying not to get buried.

This one big goofy looking guy I always think of as "Squarehead" was up at the window turning in something or another and talking to somebody else as he did it. he was talking baout this and that and then I heard him say something like this:

"I heard a rumor that there was supposed to be a riot today. Supposedly a bunch of the white supremacist gangs were going to kick off a statewide prison riot at 6:22 this evening."

I thought "Oh snap." And I wondered what, if anything, they were going to do about that. Would they keep the yards closed and just give them a smoke break house by house? Would they call in E-Squad and have them standing by and call it a 'training exercise'? I wondered.

Then as time went by and I didn't hear anything on the radios and it seemed like nothing was going on (about 5:00 pm or so) I thought to myself "I do wonder if he mentioned that rumor to anybody? Surely he did."

But I called Lt Baby Boy and asked him if he'd heard anything about a riot. He just said "Naw!" So I told him what I had overheard. He said he would pass it along.

So about 6:15 when I swapped out with Brother D to go into the P-car I was a little nervous. If something kicked off there wouldn't be much I could do from outside the fence. Unless they managed to climb over the inner fence all I could do is watch basically. I kept my eyes glued to the yard (what I could see of it between the housing units, anyway) and watched like a hawk.

And 6:22 came and went and nothing happened. But I kept a close watch and an ear on the radio.

And nothing continued to happen.

I'm not complaining, mind you. I'm just saying.

I guess it was just a stupid rumor after all. Maybe they were just trying to make us nervous. Maybe they got the dates wrong. Or maybe our guys didn't get the memo and missed out on the whole thing. Who knows?

As long as nothing continues to happen, I'll be happy. That makes it a little harder to find things to write about, but I can live with that.

So Thursday (my B-yard day) will be National Pink Day. I think I'll let Chanel handle the celebration for that one. It clashes with my ensemble. And my eyes. It is also Let It Go Day and Public Service Day.

Maybe it would be a public service to let the pink go! Yeah!