University of Virginia Library

Monotony

This routine was only broken by
visits to the commissioner's office,
lawyers' visits, and the periodic
serving of slop they called food.
Meals were the day's highlights.
They conveniently broke the
monotony of staring at the bars for
twelve hours, or pacing the tank. At
7, 12, and 6, the metal slot under
the visitor windows would open
and twenty cups of "coffee" would
slide through, followed by a three
dished metal trays, with "Bread" in
one part, "vegetables or beans" in a
second, and "meat" in a third.
"Desert" was served once a day.

I've eaten in some of the most
greasy, sleazy restaurants in this
country, but I've never been
confronted with food I wouldn't
eat. This was a first. I subsisted on
water and occasionally pieces of
corn bread or cake: the rest I
couldn't stomach. Norm, on the
other hand, got right into the food,
having just converted to
vegetarianism. Our combined lack
of hunger allowed us to distribute
some of the food among our
friends, which earned us some
gratitude as well as edging off of
what hostility there was.

Being the tank's hippies, the
first few hours of our first day were
extremely interesting. We were
continually bombarded with the
same question, "Why are you here?"
providing the same answer. The
response usually ran, "That's what
you get for leaving the United
States and coming to Oklahoma
without a visa"; which was
followed with quantities of
laughter.

The spirit stayed positive. Any
negative aspects it might have
developed were derailed by our
friendship with T—, the big man in
the Tank (he outweighed everyone
as well as being the most
accomplished con.). T—, managed
to keep contraband salt and pepper
on the tables (the food contained
no seasoning) and had other things
generally not favored.

While our encounters with the
prisoners were peaceful, our
meetings with those who
imprisoned us were distressing to
turbulent. We were continually
harassed about our hair and beards,
threatened with the "HOLE,"
threatened physically, and
otherwise made to feel
uncomfortable.

We learned Commissary
procedures.