FeedDublin’s Dirty Laundry
Note:The day after this post was written, the problem was solved (ljh for Josh Wolf)
Prisoners at the FDC her in Dublin are supposed to be issued two complete changes of clothing: two pairs of boxers, two pairs of socks, two t-shirts, and two jumpsuits. Some guys have managed to acquire extra clothing and a few of the recent transfers have only one set, but theoretically everyone should have two. As a result, people must do their laundry every day if they want clean clothes to wear. Althought this routine is tedious at best, a new complication has plagued our efforts to stay clean for well over a week.
According to the orderly in charge of washing the clothes for the prisoners, we have been out of laundry soap for at least a week and a half. The issue is moot for those of us that are blessed with financial support; we can buy commercial laundry detergent at commissary. But for the indigent inmates who make up the bulk of the population, there is no detergent available to clean their clothes. Some are having the attendant wash their clothes in hot water. Others have purchased shampoo on their limited budgets and are using it with some success. Still other prisoners have resorted to grinding down the bars of hand soap they are issued. I suppose a few guys are probably wearing their dirty clothes day after day, but I haven’t noticed anyone resembling Pigpen; so it seems most everyone is managing in one way or another.
In some regards this really isn’t that big of a problem. Two guys I’ve met here have demonstrated an unparalleled ability to adapt and are truly kings of improvisation. Most everyone seems to have been able to stay clean. At the same time, the government has taken on certain responsibilities by holding us against our will: three meals a day, health care, a place to sleep, and to meet our hygiene needs, including clean clothes.
Earlier in the week I overheard the laundry attendant asking a correctional officer (CO) why we have no soap. Although he had been told several times that it was on order, this CO’s story was of a slightly different timbre. The CO explained that the amount of detergent allotted to the prison is based on the population and that we had used the soap too quickly – as if staying clean was a case of detergent abuse. He seemed unceratin as to how long it’d be before we had detergent again.
While I do imagine that we have gone through far more laundry soap than the Bureau of Prisons predicted, it seems highly unfair to punish those prisoners who can’t afford to buy their own. I’m also curious whether the projection takes into account the fact that we are only given one change of clothes. How often are we expected to wash them? Every other day? Once a week?
Only in prison are people punished for staying clean. I suppose this is just one more example of Dublin’s dirty laundry that I’ve been exposed to during my stay under civil contempt.
That’s the way our government works. As long as prisoners are out of the way, the public is happy. They don’t care what goes on on the inside: on the contary, they hope it’s bad, as they feel “they did something bad to get there, so I hope they suffer. This is a view that MUST change with this generation. How can rehabilitation happen (when it needs to, not in this case) if your worried your cellmate will stab you? This goes back to a proven system, the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. But, obviously that isn’t the point. Keeping discontent out of the mainstream IS the point. What a sad system… Please keep up the fight within yourself.
Waaaaaaaaa….. i guesse you are exposing a lot of dirty laundry there at dublin… sound like a real gulag, kiddo.
what are you guys doing that gets you so dirty that you need to wash clothes every day. its not like they are making you work. you walk around in your concrete, air conditioned cinderblock home.
im learning from josh wolf that prison must not be really bad if he is whining about laundry and the on staff medical team that helped out his friend bill.
just sit it out you weenie.
Lets play spot the troll.
Hey bo, it’s you isn’t it? No, go on… tell us, it is isn’t it! Can almost smell you from here. Go figure.
you forgot to call me a hate monger kazz.
I spent my time in prison for a drug possession charge, and those damned mandatory minimums.What this troll doesnt realize is that laundary detergent is just one of the problems.The average american thinks that we were having a blast like prison was a fucking summer camp in Cape Cod.Prison is horrific.The most horrible thing I’ve ever experienced, or probably ever will experience.The human rights abuses were horrific.Maybe not compared to third world countries but bad enough in their own right.
I am supposed to feel sorry for a guy who broke into my car and stole all my work gear? these guys are parasites on us working folk and I could give a s**t if their cloths aren’t clean. f**k them and their pathetic lives, their hands would be chopped off in Asis and quite rightly so.
Hey gary,
How on gawd’s green earth will your methodical degradations
convince that A-hole who broke into your private property that his
world view is wrong?
My guess is that they won’t. That kind of reactionary response typically
enforces more such anti-social behaviour.
In other words, that individual will be as likely if not more so to repeat such offences on you or others.
Please entertain a paradigm shift if you truly support changing behaviour rather than simply mirroring it yourself or by proxy.
r1bb17
SOAP. its definitely a slippery subject. but seriously, i think he was writing about a subject that was available to him. I am sure that he will get around to the more favored subjects of “How to make a great Shank.” OR “Tossing salads for dummies”.
I have done 5 days in county lockup.(Which is nothing to 8 months.) I was shipped back and fourth to three total police processing stations.( processed in the same center twice !!!) I learned that the secret of sleeping on cold cement is flat on your back. I learned that having bowel movements in general holding is not fun, but a matter of watching your diet.
And speaking of diet, I had three cold cut sandwinces. slice of ham, cheese and two pieces of bread. DON’T EAT THE CHEESE. This will ruin your Bowel Movements(I think its because its government cheese !!!)
And the temperature was so frigging cold. It keeps bacteria and viral infections to a min- so I am told.
But the most important thing, I kept on telling the same story when I was moved. The story of my imprisonment. But I am a better person for it and can survive anything. I no longer trust any police officer, District attorney or politician. I trust myself. I trust myself to get out of and keep myself out of trouble. Thats what prison taught me.
While moving from holding cell to general pop, is a different way of life. You can see those that are regulars and those with money and then those with influence.
And finally, after my second time back into my original processing center, a guard asked why I was back. I told her my story again. She remembered me. She told me to contact my lawyer, tell him to do three specfic things. And within 45 minutes I was out. No SHIT.
In my case, someone(that guard) within the system knew that I was getting shuffled around and dicked. The took the incentive and recognized the injustice.
So Norman Mailer was correct. Find a job within the System. But take it a step further and help those when you can while in the system.
p.s. always wear white underwear and socks !!! two pair if you can. anyone in prison will know what I am talking about.
Josh,
I’m glad to hear you are now “free” again. I just have one comment, more of a “story” you could say. I spent 14 months in Iraq with the U.S. Army at the start of the war. Believe me; growing up in my “against everything” days, I never thought my life would have led me there. Before I left for war, I traveled to Houston, TX to visit family & friends. I wrote a check for $23.57 at a grocery store for some over-the-counter medicine for a friend who was in need. Somehow, by the banking systems mistake, the check had been returned. I was unaware of the situation due to my deployment overseas. When I luckily returned home, 14 months later, I went to see this old friend of mine in Houston. She & I went for a few drinks at a bar. It was hard coming home back into a life where everything around is shown from a view thousands of miles away & no one really has a clue of what is going on over there & vice versa for us as well. Well, some how someone made a comment about the war & set me off. It was (then) a little hard to restrain from telling them what I thought of their views! Especially when you lose 5 of your closest friends, police up body parts of women & children, and live a life of fear for over a year. Off subject for a moment, I am a lot better with not doing that now…lol! Anyways, an argument between me & a group of people began. Luckily, nothing serious. I was really, really drunk (hell, it was first time drinking in over a year!) & realize now how I over-reacted. Well, needless to say, the Houston Police were called. I was the only one being called into question, from what I recall. I informed the officer that I just returned home from Iraq only one week earlier & this was my first time to drink & I would not be driving home, that my friend & I would be calling a cab. Well, they ran my name & found out that I had a warrant because of a hot check that was written prior to my deployment to Iraq. I let them know that I was unaware of this because I was overseas. Yet, they still arrested me. I had even given them ALL my information & promised to be there Monday to take of this matter. They didn’t give a rat’s behind!! In fact, my wrists were so bruised & discolored that I almost pressed charges, but what can you really do.
I do have to say that what did some of the people (in your video of the march in 2005) honestly expect to happen when they began to destroy property?! The girl that spoke at the start of the video was knowledgeable & had many things that made a lot of sense & was correct on. But, the video following that was just BS! How are they going to expect people to understand those beliefs with destruction (I know it wasn’t a bombing or anything of that nature) but a dog is still a dog, no matter what color it is! I agree with the march & “some” of the things said, but once I began to see the destruction of property…I began to question what are they honestly trying to prove? No one listens to someone who uses those tactics…
I just thought I would share that. None the less, welcome home Josh! What happened to you was BS & I hope you continue to fight for the rights of journalists!
A very interesting article!
I liked!
I would be here now go more often!
That’s the way our government works.
As long as prisoners are out of the way, the public is happy.
nice article. i love to read it… it helps a lot, and i would like to review you some of the best washing machine on the market. washtech