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Leisure Time

Interview with Tommy

JM: What types of facilities were available to help pass the time?
Tommy: During leisure time you could either sit at the tables in the block and play cards or dominoes (which you had to buy yourself off of commissary) or walk around bottom level of cells. There are no TVs or a library or anything like that. There was a big area that was usually locked up that had open windows for you to walk around in and get fresh air and sunlight on each cell block, but in my experience it was very rarely opened up.

JM: Did you have regular access to the entertainment or was competition fierce? Give details.
Tommy: Depending on the cell block you are in, there might be a large pile of books on the floor next to the phone for you to grab, or everybody will have taken the books and there will be nothing. Occasionally a newspaper would get passed around, but I only ever saw that once. People are generally pretty happy to trade books they've finished reading for ones they haven't, though. As far as cards go, you had to buy them off of commissary yourself or play with somebody who had some. You could also buy a small battery powered radio off of commissary, but you were only allowed to use two batteries a week so you can't run it all the time.

JM: Did you have a hard time staying in shape while in jail?
Tommy: It wasn't super difficult, but there wasn't much you could do to exercise. There wasn't much danger of gaining too much weight, though.

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?
Tommy: You don't ever get to go outside for rec. For exercise you could do laps around the bottom of the cell block during rec time or body weight exercises in your cell

JM: Did the jail offer church services? If so, what were they like and when were they held?
Tommy: There were church services available. A pastor came around once a week to do a bible study with whoever wanted to do one, but I never went myself, so I can't describe them.

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