casdave hit it on the head with most of what he said, although I have two cravats: No smoking was allowed in this particular jail (either of them, I spent 5.5 months downtown and the remainder in a work camp) so Tobacco became a hot item as well. and yes, most (if not all) contraband was smuggled in via anal “suitcasing” as it was called. The material was wrapped in saran wrap and… well you get it. The inmates also make a form of alcohol called “buck” from orange juice and bread. It tastes vaguely like a screwdriver, and will get you f***ed up!
Also, there are no contact visits allowed, so no contraband could be passed that way. The occasional crooked CO would bring us some soda or something (and we were definitely too grateful to tell on him) when I was at the work camp. There are random drug screenings, so I didn’t partake of the abundant drugs that were available–although many inmates would drink diluted bleach to clean their systems, making bleach an even hotter commodity.
On the sex: I didn’t partake, mainly because I found it unappealing. Others who did tried (usually in vain) to keep it a secret, so i would assume that they considered themselves straight. The “receivers” as it were were almost always “out” homosexuals, some of which were cross-dressers on the outside and sported some fairly convincing breasts.
Yes, superbee, the ketchup bottle could get attention on the rare occasion that you got the shower to yourself, or late at night when everyone was asleep (although the CO’s were supposed to be watching, the night shift rarely did–you could get extra charges tacked on if you were caught spanking the yogurt stick)
On the cliques: Most were by race, and I’m morally against such things (I’m white, but the best friend I’ve ever had is black–and no I’m not just saying that, he was the best man at my wedding), so I mingled with everyone as best I could. This didn’t sit well with some (mainly whites), so I was jumped a few times for it.
When I was downtown, the crime demographic was full spectrum, everyone is kept there until sentenced, so there was everyone from rapists and murderers (and one guy that was arrested on sept 14 for having a stun-gun in his carry-on, we thought he was full of it until he was in Newsweek) At the work camp, it was all people who had been given a year or less, so predictably, it was mostly drug offenders (Jacksonville has a major crack problem, so thats what most of them were there for)
Beelzebubba: I hoped to do a little ignorance fighting.
The Ace of Swords: I think both are good ideas, although I’m not sure how well they would work for most of the inmates I was in contact with–they just don’t care.
erislover: I would never want to go back, simply for the reason that it kept me from living my life and nothing is worth missing what I missed (the birth of my first child, my mother’s cancer diagnosis, and many other things. Not to mention being all alone in a room full of people). I feel I’ve always accepted society’s ways (I know it is wrong to steal, and I agree), but desperation can make people do things they normally would consider reprehensible.
