Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things About My Job

1. I like that I am a federal employee. It comes with health benefits, life insurance, retirement and more.

2. I don’t like that my schedule is so varied. After all prison never closes.

3. I love that I can work overtime for extra money when I need a little boost.

4. I hate it when they mandatory overtime me. Sure, the money is good, but sometimes it can be so inconvenient.

5. I love that I wear a uniform every day. It makes it easier and saves me money on clothes. Plus I get a clothing allowance.

6. I hate “gunners”. That is what we call inmates who feel the need to whip their business out at female officers. I don’t know where they got the idea that women enjoy that. And they always say lame stuff too… “I was tying my shoe, she must have been mistaken.” “I had a rash and I was itching.” “I can’t help it if I like women.” “She must be new and just couldn’t handle seeing one that size.” And my favorite and the most popular… “You should have expected that. You work in a male prison.”

7. I enjoy getting attention for all my hard work. It never happened at my last job. I work very hard and get the recognition I deserve. I will admit, I am kind of a suck up and a rule follower, but that is how I will get those promotions.

8. I don’t like the way that place smells sometimes. Mostly the penitentiary. The mediums are usually pretty clean, but the penitentiary can get pretty smelly. Men are pigs. Then there are times when they over compensate and wear six gallons of stinky cologne.

9. I like how it is flexible. I get sick time and vacation time and there are so many of us, I am easily covered. Not that I call in sick all the time, but it is nice to know that if I really need to, it’s not the end of the world.

10. I don’t like that there aren’t many females working where I do. There are days I am only female I see. Don’t get me wrong, the guys I work with are mostly nice guys.

11. I like that I get paid every two weeks. (Mostly… I don’t want to talk about this last time.)

12. I love that I have job security. I don’t think we will run out of prisoners anytime soon.

13. I like that they trust me with deadly weapons. Not that I shouldn’t be trusted, it’s just that never in my life did I ever think that I would be in the position to be trusted with one. I also carry handcuffs and a radio. It makes me feel cool.