Days 13-15: Ritual Cleansing

During college my foray into Anthropology led me to a class focused on the various indigenous cultures of Melanesia. Melanesia, or Papua New Guinea, offered 20th Century ethnographers a chance to observe cultures which may have been only mildly influenced by Westerners; and due to the terrain, each other.

The Trobriand Islanders were studied for their practices around sex, marriage, and family life. Ritual Washing was a common practice, accompanied by appropriate use of oils, garments, and of course, magical spells. Returning each day from "the street", I feel like a Trobriander being purified by ritual.

Each CO has his own manner of searching anyone returning from the street. Only a few will actually do a strip search, including the charming "squat and cough twice" command, but even they only go to that extent occasionally. The more regular a guard is, the more regular and simplified the search will be.

Pockets are usually checked for contraband. It is an equal chance that they will search shoes or a folded jacket, as they may simply ignore both. Each CO seems to have his own particular pet search spot: one is obsessed with socks (like a puppy) and will ask you to pull them down, then yank them up; another, belt loops and pant cuffs.

No CO has ever compared what I am wearing or bringing in with what is listed in the logbook of approved articles. I have smuggled in, in plain sight, a rain jacket and a watch, purchased at a drug store. I always bring in the petty cash that I am supposed to get via a request form and deduction from my prison account.

But all of these things appear to be legitimate, so they are ignored. At this point I've clearly identified a system and it would be trivial to actually smuggle contraband, if I choose to (but I have no intention to). I would imagine many of my fellow inmates are smuggling in at least tobacco, if not more.