TGIF...Not Really
7:34 am: It's early on a Friday morning. The weekend is upon us. On the outside, everyone looks forward to the weekends. In here, that is not the case because the weekends seem to drag because there is nothing to do. Personally, I like to stay busy because the time seems to go by quickly. Yesterday was one of those busy days. It was filled with work, commissary, a dental cleaning, working out, my daily nap, and classes, oh and let’s not forget the random drug test I had to take. It was 9 am count before I even knew it. Today will be the same, except I get to add a little spice to my life and go over to the A building for labs. The A building is where the men are housed, behind the fence. I have only been inside the A building twice; when I arrived and to get an x-ray. Rumor has it that R. Kelly will be arriving there soon. That is according to inmate.com.
The A building is now my new view. From my window, I now see the vast campus right in front of me. It doesn't sound like the ideal picture, but it is much better than the view of the cafeteria that I had before. When I first moved in everyone flocked to my room, excited, hoping to get a glimpse of the men on the track working out. LOL! It’s the small things in here that matter. Most days I don’t even look out of the window. The massive building encaged with barbed wire is a grim reminder of my reality. So I prefer the opposite perspective, which reminds me of my college dorm days. Days that are a little brighter.
Needless to say, I am excited about my little field trip this morning as evidenced by the choice to accessorize my outfit with a hat and scarf. I have not been out of the building in a couple of weeks, so the fresh air is much needed and welcomed. I have no idea what the labs are for, but honestly, I do not even care, I take full advantage of any and all treatment I can get. I mean it is free so why not?
2:27 pm: Around 10:45 am the medical assistant approached me and told me to get dressed because I was about to head off campus for a medical trip. I was in the middle of my lunch, but I gladly wrapped it up in order to get ready to go. I was so excited, like a kid on Christmas. This would be my first trip off of the compound in almost five months. When I got to the officer station I learned that I was going with another inmate to get mammograms at the University of Kentucky! Our first stop was the A Building to check out and then into the free world.
As we headed off campus I could feel myself getting a little anxious. I worried about how the people at the medical office would react to prisoners. We were in full uniform, but luckily it is cold here so my jacket covered my top. As we traveled in the car I got to see a Starbucks, Dairy Queen, and other sightings like a gas station. It’s crazy how you take seeing these things for granted when you see them all the time. When they are not part of your everyday viewing, you pay a little closer attention.
I was also extra attentive to myself. I was intentional about paying attention to what I was thinking and feeling. Surprisingly, I really did not feel odd or out of place. What I did conclude was that I was not missing that much. Life is just life, and unless you are truly living a purposeful life you are just going through the motions and life is fairly mundane. I thought about what I would be doing if I were on the outside, and the truth is NOTHING. Nothing in the sense of nothing that is life or death. This feeling/thought made me realize that I really was not living life to the fullest before. I knew it before, but today confirmed it even more.
