Petroleum Jelly

Hope y'all are well.
 

Man it's been cold up here, but it's supposed to warm up this week ... not Texas warm, but in the 50s. One thing about this weather is that it dry's my skin out ... yeah, I have to put Petroleum Jelly on just so I don't itch to death ... what? No, I ain't trying to impress you with my vocabulary, we just don't use the "V" word in here. Why, you ask? Well imagine this conversation.

Prisoner #1: " Yeah, dude, I rub Vaseline all over my body."
Prisoner #2: "Yeah ... I bet you do! Around your butt!"
Prisoner #1: "FU!"
Prisoner #2: laughing. "Hey everybody! The Mayors over here telling me he rubs VASELINE all over himself, especially around his buttocks! ... I think he's making a pass at me!"

Yeah, we rag on each other all the time, hence, my use of the term, Petroleum Jelly. But, yeah, I have to use it ... I heard that! You guys are as bad as we are!

"Phones. Racism?"

A couple years back, one of my favorite rants on this platform was the 23 cents a minute we had to pay to use the phone ... not robbing us, they are robbing my kids who have to send my the money to USE the phone; I will remind you that my kids have not broken any laws and shouldn't have to pay exuberant fees because I am a convict. Anyway. When the Covid restrictions went into affect, then President Trump, passed a bill called the First Step Act, and in the First Step Act Trump made it so that as long as the Covid restriction are in place that our phone calls were, FREE! Yeah, great thing for us.

But, alas, we prisoners are not the like you ... meaning that, most of the time, we just can't act right ... don't know why, just can't.

Before, when you had to pay for phone calls, a lot of guys didn't hardly use the phone, couldn't afford to. But now, everybody can use the phone all day long ... and do. So, we now have phone lines, and to be honest, I hate lines, so I have limited myself on calls. No. I ain't so selfish that I want the pay calls to come back so I can use the phone at my leisure ... well, I mean, I'm pretty selfish, but not that selfish. I'm happy that these guys can keep in touch with their people, most of the time! :)

Like I have told you over the years, everything in Prison is racial, segregated

Here at Hazelton there are 6 phones for the 120 or so men to use, which is good, most places only have 4. Also, here at Hazelton the population is 80% black ... in comparison, Three Rivers was 80% Hispanic. Anyway, we have 6 phones here ... and 5 of those phones are for, blacks only. Yes, whites are allowed to use ONE phone, AFTER the Hispanics finish of course. Now, as a disclaimer I will tell you that, IF, during the daytime only, a Black only phone is open, you can ask permission to use it and it will be given, but only during the daytime hours when most people are at work; remember, with the free phone calls the phones in the evening are mostly busy.

Remember those old photos of the "White Only" signs? ... Yeah, I find it ironic that in 2023 things are the same, only reversed. My point is this: Racism ain't a white thing, it's a human thing. We are all guilty of it. That and I want you to know that keeping Racism in the conversation of Americans IS THE PLAN. This is how the Government controls us; by keeping us divided. Just look at your National News programs. If you watch CNN, you end up believing that all of the worlds problems are because of racist ass white people. If you watch Fox news you are told that Black people are criminals and Mexicans are taking over and ruining our country. None of that is true, but it benefits the narrative ... divide and conquer. If we are hating on each other, then we ain't got time to hate on what the government is doing ... just take a look around you. For instance, they are trying to arrest a former duly-elected President for things every damned politician in Washington has done at one time or the other. No, I ain't endorsing anybody, far as I'm concerned they're all suspect, but you need to pay attention, if they can, with nothing but the word of a lying-assed lawyer, fabricate a case against a former President, they can, AND DO, fabricate evidence against the common people ... like you!

The moral to this story is: Wake the hell up! Stop falling into that racism trap. Racism is nothing but a tool used to keep us hating each other. No, I ain't mad at the Blacks here for the segregation, I'm mad at the government controlled media and entertainment industries who have convinced them that they are entitled to treat other humans this way. And just to be clear here, I am treated very well by the Blacks here, very well, so don't worry about me, I'm fine.

Well, that's my rant for the week. Hope you are happy and healthy ... and thanks for keeping up with me. Peace be with you, mark

 

Bruceton Mills, 3-22-2023