Naysayers

There's alot of people here in the prison that have an automatic response to anything new.

"You can't do that!"

I especially love it when the inmates tell me that. Then I go right ahead and show them I sure as frack can do that and if they aint careful, I'll do it again!

What really surprises me is the staff. Some of them are so ingrained in the way things have always been done that they will automatically try and shoot down any new idea just because it's not the way things have always been done.

I've had numerous conversations like this:
"You can't do that!"

"Sure I can. It's easy! Even you can do it!"

"But you can't do that!"

"Why not? It's easy and it works!"

"Well... It's against policy!"

"Which one? Show me."

"I don't know which one. It just is. So stop doing that!"

"Why? It works!"

"Because I'm the Captain and I said so!"

I get alot of that "because I said so" stuff.

I was fully expecting my new rule about having the inmates stand in the middle of the hallway at med pass to get shot down. But the Boss there is a pretty good guy. He started out as a COI on the line like I did and I've worked with him off an on for years.

I'd sent him an email that night and he replied "Sounds good to me!"

If it would have been any other house or any other Boss the reply I would have gotten would have started with "You can't...."

And I'd just have rolled my eyes and gone on.