Sixteenth Trip to Taft

It's been over 100 days since Ron arrived at Taft. That means that 20% of his time has been done. It seems like a lot of time, but there's still so much to do. You know I've learned a million different ways to count time. My favorites are the number of days (100 days sounds like a lot), percentages, and how many more months to go. When Ron's not busy counting time, he is writing lists. I'm a big list writer. I think lists help you stay on track, get things done. These days he's writing lists about what he plans to do when he gets out, making and remaking budgets for living, making lists of what he's learned at Taft, and making lists of the positives and negatives of Taft.

We did a little experiment a few weeks ago. Ron made a list of the positives and negatives at Taft, and I made a similar list. However, the items on our lists were'nt the same. Here is Ron's list of positives: exercise, free run of the yard, library, no traditional guards (no guns, etc), excellent bathroom facilities, unlimited hot water, lots of microwaves for heating food, beautiful gardens and sunsets, reasonable climate, unlimited mail, religious services available, sports activities, educational opportunities, and ability to share reading material. I thought that was a great list. Now here's my list of the positives at Taft: good medical care, freedom to go where you want within the camp, no prison uniforms (just khakki pants and white T shirts), reasonable climate, educational opportunities, lots of phone time, unlimited mail, no restriction on TV, movie nights, lots of group sports activities and good sleeping arrangements.

The negative list for Ron is quite a bit longer, so here goes: no mail on Saturdays, bad food, lack of sleep (too loud), bed and covers are inadequate, fan and noise in dorm, inconsiderate inmates (loud music, talking late at night), not enough visiting time, telephone limits, commissary limits, lack of furloughs, small tv's, walking on eggshells (don't want to make any mistakes), no e-mail yet, labor for 12 cents per hour, poor medical attention (takes too long), minimal dental care. Now for my list: not enough visiting time, no furloughs (a man's dad died and he couldn't go to the funeral), long drive (in the middle of nowhere), no one to call if there's a problem (except your lawyer..no one at Taft will tell you anything), no network of communication among the wives, terrible food in the visitors room vending machines, no packages or gifts allowed, no e-mail or computer access, not allowed inside the camp to see where inmates live.

You can see that we have some of the same complaints and some very different ones. I'm not on the inside, so I don't get to taste the food or sleep in the bed. Ron's not on the outside so he doesn't know what it's like not to hear from someone for a few days and know that there's no one to call. As in everything in life, we each come from a different perspective, thus we have different issues. All in all, things are as good as they can be under the circumstances. I'm glad Ron has adapted so well. He has accepted that this is his home until June, 2011, and he will make the best of it. As the inmates always say, Hope for the best, but expect the worst. E-mail should be there this summer, and that will be one item we can both check off the negative list.