THE NEW NORMAL

Seems these new “fog counts” (well ‘new’ so far as our experience goes…they started them up 6 weeks ago and haven’t missed a Saturday since) continue to delay and disrupt our weekly visits. We suspected as we neared the coast this past Saturday and encountered heavy fog that odds were they would insist on the addition of another standing count, besides the 10 am Count.

When we pulled into the Camp parking lot at 7:50 am, having arisen at 4 am, left the house just after 5 am to make the long drive over, there were 3 “parties” of visitors standing in line already. The first in line a lovely woman who drives up from LA every Saturday to visit, a Hispanic husband and wife, and a man (looked professorial) our age with a younger boy (son or grandson more likely?), around 10 yrs old perhaps. The boy seemed wise beyond his years, and with more patience than most his peers I sense, considering how the morning played out.

Visitation processing doesn’t begin until 8:30 am, but within a few more minutes at least 10 more ‘parties’ of visitors had arrived and stood in the line behind us, in the damp, cold fog of the parking lot. Around 8:25 three officious prison guards appeared, telling us we’d all have to leave, they were doing a fog line count. In the past 2 or 3 occasions we’ve been allowed to go back to our cars and wait until the count cleared. Not today, it seemed they sent a regular ‘swat’ team to clear us out. We asked when we could return and were simply told when the fog lifts…half an hour or 2 hrs, who knew?

The problem is there is nowhere we are ‘allowed’ to park to be close by to observe when the fog lifts at this camp. The camp sits in a ‘depression’, lower ground level, than all the surrounding area, we can be 5 miles away in the town of Lompoc and its sunny and clear, while at the prison it is fog enshrouded. We did note that over at the adjacent “medium” security prison, a ‘higher security level” facility, they were allowing the visitors to remain in their vehicles until the count cleared. But at this MINIMUM security “Camp” they insisted, for “security reasons” that we all leave. Go figure.

So it was off to Starbucks where a few of us enjoyed coffees and conversation together to pass the time, heading back after an hour to check status. Nope, still turning folks away. My husband decided to drive back into town to check out some Car Lots, while I joined Cindy, a new friend, in her car, and we left to find a place to park, where we could hopefully keep an eye on the entrance to the Camp Visitation lot. We knew where we opted to wait out the fog was no doubt ‘not permitted’ as it was still on prison property, in fact directly across the hwy in a field for that matter, but that vantage point allowed us a clear view of the driveway down to the Camp parking lot. We figured when we STOPPED seeing new visitors arrive, head down the drive, and then return having been booted out, we’d know we could chance it again. The anxiety and frustration that comes with this now seemingly routine addition to our already early and long waits, is that anyone ‘newly’ arriving, would take our places at the head of the line to get in. UNLESS we returned early enough and ASSERTED our place in the line. Regardless of our reclaiming our ‘rightful’ place in line, or as close to it as possible, it always adds to bad feelings amongst other newly arrived guests, who don’t realize what we’d had to go thru prior to their even newly arriving!

Cindy and I watched car after car after car, of more new visitors arriving, make the long drive down to the parking lot, only to return and head off in one direction or another, confused as to where to go, and for how long. Several of the returning vehicles noted where Cindy and I had parked, and pulled up to form a line behind us. We were laughing, but wishing they wouldn’t do this, it only drew attention to where we were parked, undoubtedly not permitted! And we then all risked being ordered off the property! About an hour passed, uneventfully thank goodness, and we then saw my husband return from town, signaling he was going to head down to the lot. He, and 3 rigs ahead of him that had just newly arrived, never returned! Cindy and I quickly started the car, and drove across the main highway, to slowly drive (speed limit there is 5 mph!) back to the Lot. We felt like the Pied Piper, as the long line that had formed behind us followed! It truly resembled a parade!

The wait line re-formed, as the parking lot filled to capacity. At this point, it was now 9:45 am, and a guard came to tell us it would be a while yet as the 10 o’clock standing count was now in process! Right on the heels of the ‘fog count’ that had just ended! I have to tell you, its only after almost 9 years of dealing with this type of in-the-box thinking that we’ve learned the patience of Job! It hasn’t been easy. Now we can mostly laugh at the absurdity of it all. Mostly!

OK, so finally they manage to ‘clear’ the count. It is now 11 am, my husband and I left our house at 5 am, as per our weekly visiting routine. Several of the other visitors we knew had made longer drives, like from San Diego, San Francisco or Fresno, having had to leave at 2 or 3 am to get a good spot in the line. But for us, we’ve by now invested 6 hrs into this visit, and we are still not even in the building! To make matters worse, we see there is a new “temp” guard at the computer this morning. And clearly he does not know the computer program he is required to use to process each and every visitor, to assure the inmate is approved to have visitors, that each particular visitor has been ‘approved’ to visit, that the inmate has enough ‘points’ for a visit, etc . And so we wait, and wait, as the long slow minutes pass, 20 minutes before even the first visitor in the door gets cleared.

We see another guard arrive on-scene, and soon realize the new dilemma we face that delays visitation even longer. As these two guards try unsuccessfully to figure out the computer program, a 3rd guard arrives to hopefully offer knowledgeable assistance as well. Its almost comical its so ridiculous. The temp staff member had the last 4 hrs, during which the counts were being done, where no doubt he just sat and drank coffee and chatted with other staffers, to have instead, perhaps familiarized himself with the computer program he was going to need to use! No matter how short notice he was given re filling in, he DID have those hrs at least. Its been my experience, that ONLY in Government jobs, and in particular Prison jobs, do we see this level of staff mentality, this ‘could give a damn, it all pays the same’ attitude (well, except for at Walmart in the private sector!). Few private business would tolerate this level of apathetic behavior in their employees. There are far too many others, waiting in line for jobs, that are overqualified even, and would gladly 'overcompensate' given the chance, these days, to have such a position, with the job benefits Govt jobs offer in addition to the decent pay. Yet the prison system is rife with lackluster employees, its almost like it’s a prerequisite to the job. If only the taxpayer had a vague idea even of how their hard earned tax dollars are being spent!

So by noon, a full 8 hrs since Rod and I arose this morning to prepare for our day with our son, to make the long drive, and wait the endless wait in line, we finally were sitting face to face with Corey. That left us only 3 hrs of visitation left of the allotted 7 ½ for the day. Was it worth it? Always. Had we only an hour with our son, it is worth it. Fortunately, in these many past years that visitation has been a weekly part of our lives, we’ve not had to deal with this level of incompetence, though memories of having prepared for visits at Taft Low, and arriving only to be told there would be no visitation that day, that the prisoners were all on Lock Down (for whatever reason) do resurface. But it is what it is. I suppose we should be grateful the BOP, Bureau of Prisons, firmly believes, and in fact it is stated in the very first paragraph of their Program Statement re Policies on Visitation:
[PURPOSE AND SCOPE §540.40. The Bureau of Prisons encourages visiting by family, friends, and community groups to maintain the morale of the inmate and to develop closer relationships between the inmate and family members or others in the community. The Warden shall develop procedures consistent with this rule to permit inmate visiting.”

I shudder to think what visitation could be like without the Bureau’s stated understanding and compassionate belief of just how important these visits for prisoners are!

"Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows." ~ David T. Wolf