I was working for my dad at a recycling plant from '84 to '91 in Corrigan Tx after I did four years in the Navy......We made good money at the time and I really enjoyed that type of work..Thing of it is, Corrigan is a small town..We didnt make big money, but we made a decent living...About' 91 the prices of scrap fell so low, we weren't buying as much as we would have liked..Dad decided to close it down..I couldnt live on the pay I was getting at the time, anyway.....I made my money on profits, and there was little made.. so I quit and went to work at Champion Paper Co..
That place sucked..I was on the green line, pulling wood for plywood and my main goal was to fill a buggy...After busting ass for two hours we got a break...It was a dead end job and I seen people that have been there for years doing the same thing everyday for 7.50 an hour...I couldnt handle that so I quit after two months...
I went to work for Blunt Construction Company after I heard they were building a prison in Livingston..I signed on and I worked concrete on that job for two in a half years at the Polunski Unit...I loved that job....I helped pour all the footings, walls, showers, and did most of the patch work on the floors and walls...I helped pour both of those big walls seperating the buildings...When the job was finished in '93, I got laid off..It was a good thing I took off from work a couple of months back to take the TDCJ test, because I would have been screwed...I didnt want to move with the company to another state..I didnt want to try to find work in Houston...I wanted a steady job with steady pay in the same town I lived in...
I started TDCJ two weeks after I was laid off from Blunt..It's been a good job...No where else in a small town can you get the vacation and sick time...They have no comp time or holliday time..Insurance is good..Everyday is a different day...
I first started at the Polunski Unit..I used to work medium and close custody pretty much every day..It was a pretty bad unit back in those days..Alot of riots, stabbings and killings went down there...There were also alot of use of forces..You had to learn quickly there..It also paid to be tight with co-workers..Your life depended on it..
In '97, I went to Estelle High Security and opened it up..We had three level three wings, which housed all of the shitheads, two level two wings, and five level ones that housed mostly hard core gang members with alot of time.. We were either gasing, running in on them, or wrestling them during escort..That was also a rough unit at the time...
2000, I went to the Wynne unit..I worked seg until 2007..Now I'm at the trusty camp finishing off the rest of my career..
I have no regrets.....I worked with alot of good people...Miss Canfield and quite a few others..In four more years I can retire, come back
and double dip...Or find another job...It's really not a bad job...
Sunday, November 15, 2009
How can we make this a better workplace?
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I remember when I first started in '93..It was at Terrell in Livingston..We ran a tight shift ..We were mostly new boots, but we had seasoned mentors that pretty well looked out for us...Inmates did not give us much problems..We ran the shift ...We also stuck together...When it was time to take care of business, we did that...
Supervisors are as good as we let them...If we do our jobs like we are supposed to, it doesnt matter what supervisor we have..It's the inmates and each other that will make and break us..Supervisors might be there for two years, but we as a shift will continue to be there...
Do we control our blocks? Do we know the rules? Do we make them follow the rules? Are we fair and consistant? I learned to be the same all the time...I give them what they are supposed to have, dont give them what they are not supposed to have, and when they disrespect me, I learned ways to handle my business..On my block I run it....Im the supervisor.....Did you know that each time an officer calls a supervisor for simple things they lose more of their power? Had an old sergeant tell me that...Only way we can do our job is by respect...They can hate us..We dont really care about that..But if there is no respect, the job is hard...I learned just being straight up all the time works..
There will always be cliques...But how close are we with our co-workers? Do we stick out the new boots by not training them on how we are supposed to do the job? Believe it or not, we are mentors...These new boots look at our CO5 patches and those 15 or 20 year stripes and they watch us...What do they see? Do they see a seasoned vet taking care of business and have control over the post? Or do they see some burn out sitting on a trash can saying, "Hell with that!!" Believe it or not, we as a shift can mold the new ones..
Do we pay attention to our co-workers while they are on the runs with inmates? Do we watch our co- workers while they are in the dayrooms doing channel checks? Do we talk to inmates more than our co-workers? Do we argue with other officers in front of inmates? Do we gossip? Do we as utility officers walk around and see if our co workers need a break? I know that I might not like everyone, and everyone will not like me..But that person that I might not like might be the one saving my life...We dont have to like anyone, but it helps to show respect towards everyone..Makes the job easier..
It's our workplace...Only we can fix it...And only way we can fix it is by sticking together and police ourselves...Once we start doing that, the dirty officers wont want to hang around...They like to be on shifts that are split apart...
What is your input?
I remember when I first started in '93..It was at Terrell in Livingston..We ran a tight shift ..We were mostly new boots, but we had seasoned mentors that pretty well looked out for us...Inmates did not give us much problems..We ran the shift ...We also stuck together...When it was time to take care of business, we did that...
Supervisors are as good as we let them...If we do our jobs like we are supposed to, it doesnt matter what supervisor we have..It's the inmates and each other that will make and break us..Supervisors might be there for two years, but we as a shift will continue to be there...
Do we control our blocks? Do we know the rules? Do we make them follow the rules? Are we fair and consistant? I learned to be the same all the time...I give them what they are supposed to have, dont give them what they are not supposed to have, and when they disrespect me, I learned ways to handle my business..On my block I run it....Im the supervisor.....Did you know that each time an officer calls a supervisor for simple things they lose more of their power? Had an old sergeant tell me that...Only way we can do our job is by respect...They can hate us..We dont really care about that..But if there is no respect, the job is hard...I learned just being straight up all the time works..
There will always be cliques...But how close are we with our co-workers? Do we stick out the new boots by not training them on how we are supposed to do the job? Believe it or not, we are mentors...These new boots look at our CO5 patches and those 15 or 20 year stripes and they watch us...What do they see? Do they see a seasoned vet taking care of business and have control over the post? Or do they see some burn out sitting on a trash can saying, "Hell with that!!" Believe it or not, we as a shift can mold the new ones..
Do we pay attention to our co-workers while they are on the runs with inmates? Do we watch our co- workers while they are in the dayrooms doing channel checks? Do we talk to inmates more than our co-workers? Do we argue with other officers in front of inmates? Do we gossip? Do we as utility officers walk around and see if our co workers need a break? I know that I might not like everyone, and everyone will not like me..But that person that I might not like might be the one saving my life...We dont have to like anyone, but it helps to show respect towards everyone..Makes the job easier..
It's our workplace...Only we can fix it...And only way we can fix it is by sticking together and police ourselves...Once we start doing that, the dirty officers wont want to hang around...They like to be on shifts that are split apart...
What is your input?
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