April 30, 2020: PLEASE PRESS PAUSE

"am i dreaming?" this is what i think as i am being instructed to march with my living area to the dining hall single file down the long corridor. every twenty yards or so there is a cluster of a combination of national guardsmen and correctional staff standing shoulder to shoulder screaming at us to "obey" the necessary precautions of honoring the social distancing guidelines set forth by the cdc. the stench of irony does not go unnoticed.

i have been confined in the same area with the same 110 people or so for the past five weeks, social distancing is impossible. we share the same showers, phones, jpay kiosk and tables. now, after we have all been infected and people have died are we instructed to stay six feet apart, but only on the way to the dining hall..oh and "don't forget your mask!"

i continue down the hallway and the pot of irony that is brewing is seasoned with the flavors of confusion and disbelief. i am confused because i am being told how important it is to keep a safe distance from each other and at the same time, the same people screaming at me are hanging out together in small groups laughing and socializing as if nothing is wrong with their behavior! do as i say not as i do?

i am in disbelief because i have come to understand the lack of value most people that work in a facility like this place on my life, but what about their families or themselves? even i know that standing that close together is a health hazard, not to mention the fact that everyone here is contagious. in the epicenter of the highest concentration of infections of covid-19 in the world, how could a person's behavior be so cavalier? i guess until you have some skin in the game its easy to be a backseat driver!