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Leisure Time

Interview with Tom, Sonja, Kurt and Marshall

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Tom: They had chess, checkers, cards, Scrable, a TV. Half court basketball. bball
Sonja: There was church every sunday. AA meetings. Bible study. Rec where you can usually play basketball or ping pong or just walk.. But the activities they do have are usually available only once a week so it's not like it even takes up a whole lot of time. It gets very boring in there and hard to pass the time.
Kurt: in the workhouse they had a library where you could check out books and bring them to your cell, they had a few tvs in the cafeteria, they had cards and some board games and had a basketball court outside, and in detention they had a tv and a few books
Marshall: a gym with a flat basketball... besides watching the non-cable t.v. prime-time hit shows like dancing with the stars and American idol, I would read or workout.. By the end I had read 44 300+ page books and was doing 1000 pushups throughout 3 different exercise regiments a day. Not to mention sleeps is a rather common occurrence in there....

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Tom: We pretty much had regluar access to all of that. I heard there were some fights over those kinds of things but I didn't see much of that.
Sonja: There really wasn't much for "entertainment". there was a box with crayons and pencils but most of them were broken or had been used so much to the point it was almost gone. Only like 2 decks of cards. So the little that were available, inmates usually have to share. Mainly it's first come first serve.
Kurt: in the workhouse you had to be quick to get the cribbage board and cards, the officers were the ones who controlled the television so you couldnt fight over what to watch and they had a good amount and good variety of books in their and had a librarian in once a week so you could order books
Marshall: Highly competitive.. The older people generally wnated to watch the news and other programs of that nature while the younger generation would typically go for the animation domination... (family guy, American dad, etc..) Not to mention the different ethnic groups. Like the hispanics wanting to watch Sabado Gigante on Saturday mornings rather than the news or Walker Texas Ranger....

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Tom: I mostly had a hard time staying in shape just because I wasn't motivated to do anything but sit around and read. You lost weight because of the portions they fed you. They fed you to keep you alive but not keep you filled.
Sonja: Yes a very hard time. For me, it was really hard to get motivated to do anything in jail. You lay in your bunk so much that you have no energy. Even when we do have rec, i would just go to get a change in scenery. i wouldn't even have the energy to work out. Plus you really couldn't do much in the unit.
Kurt: no, i did some cardio and push ups, but i wish they had weights i could of used, i did lose some strength from not lifting for so long
Marshall: Not at all. That was probably the best shape of my life... They starve you to death though.. But I came out a lean-mean piece of muscle. six-pack, biceps, triceps, back, legs, all of that straight cut..

JM: How often did you get to go outside? What did you do outside if you were allowed to? If you were not allowed to go outside what could you do for exercise?
Tom: There was no going outside at all
Sonja: We didn't even have the option to go outside at all. Just to go to rec (which is basically like a gym). play basketball, stair stepper. otherwise just do sit ups and push ups.
Kurt: in the workhouse we got to go out 3 times a week for around a hour at a time, and some people cuold work outside
Marshall: never. Hennepin county jail does not allow their inmates to go outside or ever see the Sun for that matter. The gyms have a retractable roof but I guess that gets the inmates too rowdy so they rarely if ever retract the roof.

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Tom: Not really as much as I liked.
Sonja: there was church availability every sunday and also bible study during the week. it was pretty basic, held in a little room, it was optional. basically just went to get out of the unit.
Kurt: i dont recall any church services, but they had some aa meeting for addiction but i didnt go to them
Marshall: Yes. It had bible studies of various denomination on Wednesday evening, Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings as well.. Being religious I would attend them all,possibly just to get out of my cell more often though... who knows...??

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