My morning at the male jail. Remember when I said I was suuuper comfortable with this population? I take it back..kinda. I'm still comfortable with the medical/mental health aspect of it, but getting there is the uncomfortable part. I swear they put the mental health office at the total opposite end of this jail.
Using a zoo metaphor, I was a rare specie of lioness- awesome, powerful, majestic, hairy (I hadn't shaved my legs that morning), yet bred in captivity- unfamiliar with the wild world my onlookers are so familiar with. Is that a weird enough metaphor? Yes, I think it is. But I presume you get the point. The hallway was pretty wide with every few feet presenting 30 foot long windows into the pods. When I left, walking past one end of the first window, I saw people pointing at me (I think I'll think twice the next time I point to those poor, innocent zoo animals). I didn't look up again until I had reached the other end of the window--when I glanced up, there was a row of orange jumpsuits across the whole window (it would've made for a pretty funny picture, actually). After this, my shoes became more and more interesting with every step. But who could blame them, really, with such a stone cold fox walking past? ...Stop laughing... But seriously, I'd probably react the same way out of curiosity and boredom...with the exception of my facial expression.
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Okie dokie. I started a new clinical today- at a jail. It.was.great. I don't know what it is about felons, but I love working with them. The day, however, didn't start without its glitches. I left my apartment a little early--you know, leaving extra time for inevitably getting lost. And I did. But it wasn't my fault- the GPS only took me to the main road and from there I had paper directions that said: "It's the first gray building, NOT the second one on the right." Brilliant directions when you drive through very winding side roads and are surrounded by literally a bazillion buildings in varying shades of gray- none with easily visible signs and all with barbed wire fences- and arranged in a way that was difficult to figure out which one was 1st, 2nd, 3rd...
Somehow, I found the right parking lot. I rolled in listening to Johnny Cash's 'Wanted Man' and took it as a sign that I was in the right place. With a gray building on my left and one on my right, I parked. I parked right next to a Chevy truck with a sticker of a glock on the back passenger's window and a skull on the dashboard. A life size replica (I hope) of a human skull. Awesome. Anywho, like the directions said, I picked the building on the left and was met by a very unhappy prison receptionist who pointed me to the other building. When I asked where the entrance was, she replied huffily, "It's on the side of the building, just walk over there." Perfect. 8:30AM and apparently her morning already sucked. So I wandered to the other building. I knew I was in the right place when I said "Good morning" to people outside and their response was to look me up and down. Un.come.fur.tab.bull. Luckily, the rest of the day went much more smoothly (and notably boring): saw some patients, prescribed some meds, visited some cells, etc. etc. Side note: I'm becoming quite adept at making bread- blueberry this time. |