Read Prisonomics for Free Online

through them coming in as they tended to be quiet – except one night when they were clearly training (not very effectively) a new officer, who came in and counted us and then shouted to the officer who was outside in a very loud voice: ‘Three.’ We woke up. I wondered whether it was deliberate. I had heard a story in Holloway of one particular officer (female) who would turn all lights in cells on from the outside and leave them on all night on the level where she worked – luckily she had different shifts on different days and wasn’t always on at night or on the samelanding so no one suffered for too long each time, but one does wonder what made people behave this way.
16 MARCH
    For a first night in a new environment I managed a good night’s sleep. My roommates were very quiet and the only issue was they got up very early: one was a natural early starter, waited always for 5.30 and then went out for her first tea and cigarette; the other worked on the farm and minded the animals, even on weekends. Aside from that, I soon then discovered the joys of a potential lie-in if one were so inclined, as roll call on a Saturday was at 9 a.m. rather than 8 a.m. as on weekdays. Breakfast therefore was also later and more leisurely, though girls were usually preparing for their day visits to family or friends; some could go to London from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. or anywhere within a fifteen-mile radius of ESP from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There was frantic activity the evening before as taxis were organised, agreements entered into, costs calculated. The girls made their applications for travel and cash warrants, as whatever was spent had to be approved by the officers with limits upon how much could be drawn out by the women from their cash balances. In the end, off they went on those weekend mornings, some on their CRL or ROTL; the result was that at times over a weekend the prison was less than half full. In fact, what did amaze me was the sheer number of people who were away most of the time.
    During roll call that Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to get rich quick. Anyone who worked in the house during the week always had the weekend off. The staff in the kitchen and farms stillneeded help during the weekend – mainly to take the animals out, do the laundry and kitchen work – so there were always shifts available. And, to my amazement, women are messy. I thought until then, from my experience at home, that it was only men that made everything untidy. Well, ESP soon changed that. Women ARE messy – in fact, they are unbelievably so. My housewife/mother instincts came to the fore and I would get people to throw things away properly , wash their trays, tell them off when they left mess on the tables – no one got upset with me; they just ignored me!
    There was always cleaning to be done. So everyone who was around for roll call on weekend mornings and ‘idle’ was given a two-penny job which consisted of emptying particular bins, washing showers, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping the smoking area, hoovering particular bits of the building, washing floors. Yes, 2p. No one had any great enthusiasm for these tasks but they were done and we kept the place going, just about until the following morning. I only did it twice as from the following week, once induction was over, I got the job of cleaning the dining room after breakfast and lunch, making sure cereal dispensers were full, trays disinfected for next use, floors cleaned and coffees and the rest filled up. But I actually ended up working every day, including at the weekends, to cover for my co-workers who were often either in education and unable to work or on external visits. They were happy to let me take charge – I must admit I became quite obsessed with cleanliness and tidiness, which apparently is something that happens to many women in prison. The laundry girl told me that she couldn’t rest and fretted all day if she hadn’t foldeda sheet exactly so and someone who