C/O Conduct towards Inmates and Visitors

[insideandout]

According to state Sens. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) and Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac), who are co-sponsoring the measure, a bipartisan panel of legislators, DOC officials, employee representatives, prison experts, inmate advocates and others would be put together. Their task: to take a comprehensive look at the prison system with an eye toward future needs.

Hmmmm.... a committee that would include inmate advocates? I'll believe that when I see it.

For one thing, until the state, the community, and especially the union understands that prisons are not supposed to be permanent vehicles for economic stability, nothing will change. As I have often said on this site, the goal of the DOC should (technically) be to close each and every prison! No employee should look at his/her job as a permanent one. When hired, they should understand that IF the system works as it should, then they could be out of a job!!

As a prison employee I suppose I will continue to view my position as a permanent one as I truly doubt that breaking the law is ever going to become extinct!

[Jims]

Yes, I was being....optimistic? No, more like Utopian.

Still, the attitude should be (as the department's name implies) to CORRECT the inmate's behavior rather than merely punish which in turn causes more bad behavior, not less as too many ignorant people believe. How many times have we read that "inmates can't be rehabilitated" and with very few exceptions, that's bullshit. Some inmates will require a lot more effort and resources; others will be scared to death doing their first prison bid and be able to change more quickly. The point is, it could be done. But it can't be done as long as we keep building more prisons and prison employees keep acting as if they are owed their job, should never have to move in order to keep their job, should never have to give up benefits even during an economic recession, and fully believe that it's all about them instead of being all about the inmates.

[insideandout]

Yes, I was being....optimistic? No, more like Utopian.

Still, the attitude should be (as the department's name implies) to CORRECT the inmate's behavior rather than merely punish which in turn causes more bad behavior, not less as too many ignorant people believe. How many times have we read that "inmates can't be rehabilitated" and with very few exceptions, that's bullshit. Some inmates will require a lot more effort and resources; others will be scared to death doing their first prison bid and be able to change more quickly. The point is, it could be done. But it can't be done as long as we keep building more prisons and prison employees keep acting as if they are owed their job, should never have to move in order to keep their job, should never have to give up benefits even during an economic recession, and fully believe that it's all about them instead of being all about the inmates.

As I already know we are on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to the union and prison employees and probably understandable so as I do not have a LO incarcerated keep that in mind as I say the following.  First of all I have learned not to ever use the word "never" as sooner or later it will bite you full in the rear end.  As I have also stated many times I speak for myself.  Do I feel I deserve the benefits I currently hold?  Yes I do and I THANK the UNION for the job they have done to secure those benefits over the years.  I don't believe I need to give up those benefits during an economic recession.  I still have to pay my bills, put gas in my car etc.  Perhaps you can explain to me why I should pay 50% more into my pension (one that is already seriously underfunded - not because of the union but because elected officials and a governor who doesn't feel he answers to anyone have failed to fund it properly) I should also, under the current proposal pay an excessive amount more for my health insurance, not only while I am employed but also well after I retire.  Of course, why shouldn't I should PAY more, DO MORE and EXPECT LESS in the benefit depart as well.  I won't be so crass as to say what that can be compared to but I am sure it can be figured out.  I don't believe that any employee, private or state,  should have to go backwards in regards to benefits.  Do you have any clue what it is like to be an employee in the prison system?  Do you have any idea of the risks that are involved on any given date?  And for the individual who posted it on another topic - we do not sign a waiver to work here at our own risk.  Do you even care or are you so hell bent on believing the worst of all prison employees that it just doesn't matter to you?  Are we all fantastic by the book employees?  No - that would be totally unrealistic!  I strongly doubt that in any given work place all employees are perfect.  However not all your loved ones are fantastic by the book offenders either.  For every example that you can give of how a prison employee has been rude to your loved one or to a visitor I can probably match you complaint for complaint with inmates that are rude as well.  This week alone I have had to endure the disgusting vile sexual comments of someones offenders.  Did I have to listen to it once? No. Twice? No.  Three times?  No but we're getting closer!  I won't go into how many times I have had an offender tell me that when they get out they are going to F*&k me up, F*&k up my crib, F*&k up my family etc.  How many of you get that on a daily basis?  Prison employees tend to go to work for the same reasons most of you do.  It's our job. it pays the bills and odd as it may sound some of us even like what we do!   The sad truth is there will always be some sort of "correctional" facility because there will always be someone who offends.  There will be those who succeed, not just because they may have been "rehabilitated" and had "resources" made available to them but because they FINALLY decided that THEIR behavior is WRONG, that THEIR choices have been WRONG, and they have finally figured out that THEY ARE WORTH SO MUCH MORE THAN THEY HAD EVER GIVEN THEMSELVES CREDIT FOR. As sad as it is there will also be the ones who will fail no matter how hard someone inside may have tried to help, no matter how many resources were made available to them and no matter how much support they received from their families upon release.  They may simply fail because they chose to.   I don't work in adult any longer, I work with juveniles and the first thing I attempt to get them to understand is to believe in themselves.  It is worth every negative nasty comment that I have had to endure each time I see that one of the kids finally get it and decide that they are worth investing in, that they have the potential to be somebody and they decide to do it for themselves.

[Scout]

I don't know how the health care and pension system is in the state, I can only talk about mine.  I work in a private sector job for a nonprofit organization (going profit later this year).  I've been with the company almost 25 years.  I contribute to my pension, it's not completely funded by my company.  At one time it was, we had that option taken away many years ago, now my company contributes 5% of my pay.  My health insurance options have changed drastically over the years as well.  My current (only) option is a HSA with a $3000 deductible (per person), with no coverage until the deductible is met, aside from preventative.  I didn't have a choice when these benefits were adjusted, I just had to deal with it, as I feel prison staff should also have to deal with it.  They may have different kind of issues to deal with than I do, but I doubt highly the job is any more (or less) stressful than mine.  We chose to go into the fields we do.  Prison employees also retire (full retirement I believe) at 25/50...I wish I could retire at 25/50, I'd have only six more years to work, but sadly, I work in the private sector and will be busting my ass for 23 more years.

[Jims]

I'm sorry, but I don't care about the risks you take every day at your job. I really don't. Because unless I've missed something here, you chose to work as a prison guard (or counselor or whatever kind of member of the prison staff you are). You weren't drafted into the IDOC. You applied for the job, were accepted for the job, trained for the job. That's wanting it pretty badly. I can't know why exactly you chose to work in a prison, but I can make an educated guess that it is because of the money and benefits. Fine. Then accept the risks. Did you sign up for the job not knowing what you were in for? Did you not understand that you would be working with convicted offenders, most of them guilty, many of violent felonies? I really don't want to hear what you have to go through on a daily basis because whatever you tell me you've experienced, I will tell YOU that I would have imagined all that and worse!

I don't condone the behavior of insolent inmates or inmates who threaten or assault guards. But I can understand that behavior. From the very beginning of the offender's journey into DOC Hell, he is treated with contempt and disrespect. And I'm sure many of them fling it right back. I know they do. They can't afford to be viewed as a wuss by other inmates or by guards. Nowadays, it goes well beyond following institutional rules. The max units consistently write inmates tickets for bullshit violations such as talking back to a guard! And I don't mean the obvious, such as telling a guard to **** off or like you said, threatening to mess with a guard's family. Inmates at Menard and probably across the state are getting sent to seg for asking why the lights on the gallery are still on at midnight when they should have been dimmed at 10:00. Just asking! Not saying, "Hey you rat-faced mother****er, get your lazy fat ass out here and dim the lights!" Just ASKING.

Or having the BALLS to actually inquire why their lockdown dinners have been sitting on the gallery for 4 hours rather than being delivered to the cells!! Gee, the nerve of these insolent inmates. How DARE they not want to eat an ice-cold dinner. Damn scumbags don't deserve hot meals.

And if you're an inmate expecting a package from home that was mailed out 3 MONTHS AGO, don't even think about asking someone to look into where it is unless you want to be harassed and have your cell shaken down in a manner meant to cause the most damage possible.

If you're an inmate with a migraine, a pus-filled abscess, psoriasis, arthritis, respiratory problems, hernias, deal with it *******! You in prison now!

Being locked down sometimes for weeks at a time when you didn't cause the lockdown and have never done anything to cause a lockdown. Yet, you're stuck eating cold meals, congealed oatmeal, greasy Polish sausage 6 times a week; you aren't given showers on schedule even if it's 100 degrees in your cell. You can't call home. You can't go to yard/rec. You can't go to commissary. AND YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, yet you're being punished anyway!

It's a wonder, given the crap inmates have to put up with from both staff and other inmates that more of them don't flip out and turn against the guards. How much could YOU take? Oh I know, I know. YOU'D never find yourself in prison because you would never do anything to get yourself arrested. Yeah, well, talk to Randy Steidl and Herb Whitlock, among some 130+ other inmates found to have been wrongfully convicted - and just in the past decade or so! How many went undiscovered? How many are yet to be discovered? I'm sure every innocent inmate never believed he would ever be sitting in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

As far as risks are concerned, many other industries are more risky than working in a prison. Statistically, a person is more likely to sustain a fatal injury if he's a taxi driver or a retail clerk than if he's a correctional officer. IThe stress level of teachers in urban high schools has now been matched by the stress level of college professors across the board, thanks to recent campus shootings, and that stress is higher than that of correctional officers. Why? Because most so-called assaults in prisons are minor ones while most school shootings involve random and fatal shootings by crazed individuals bent on suicide.

Miners face risks every day as well. Construction workers get hurt a LOT on the job. They may not get shanked with a sharpened 2-inch plastic toothbrush but they do fall from high places and occasionally get buried alive while digging large holes. And we can't forget crab fishermen, ice truckers, and deep sea oil rig drillers!

Then, too, after Oklahoma City and 9/11, it's fair to say that each and every one of us faces more than our share of risks each day. Who knows when suicide bombers are going to start targeting the U.S. for real. It's only a matter of time.

I suggest reading Jeffrey Reiman's The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Prison, for an eye-opening account of crime, who the criminals are, and where the true violence really is. You won't be complaining about sassy juveniles getting in your face any more.

[Delvallle]

Jims,
Thankyou for your words I couldn't of said it well as you did. What about the BS we have to put up with from the IDOC I didn't sign up for it but guess what all of us have to put up with all the crap from the IDOC huge phone bills the expense to visit our loved ones being searched before every visit, sending our loved ones money so they can purchase soap and detergent to wash their clothes , buying clothes, food ,paying to see the doctor if they get to see the doctor before they are well again. I could go on but I won't. I didn't sign up for this job but I am his mother and I love my son so I will do my job and I won't get any bonuses or paid Holidays because on the Holiday you will find at IDOC visiting my son. Now I din't choose this job but i will do it and do it well because I am a mother of an inmate and that's MY JOB.
Delvallle

[Forevermah]

$59 billion budget deal OK'd by Illinois General Assembly

 

By Mike Riopell and Kartikay Mehrotra
Saturday, May 31, 2008

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers approved a state budget Saturday and headed out of town for a summer of campaigning, leaving Gov. Rod Blagojevich to deal with a spending plan that could be significantly out-of-balance.

As Democrats put the finishing touches on the state’s $59 billion yearly budget Saturday evening, Republicans argued that in the next fiscal year, the state is set to spend $2.5 billion more than it would take in.

“I hope that all they’re promising can be delivered on,” said state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

What could be delivered in the budget is about $367 million more in the next year for schools and a 2.8 percent bump for the state’s public universities.

The budget includes cash to open Thomson Correctional Center north of the Quad-Cities. It’s been mostly shuttered since being built. Blagojevich had proposed closing either Stateville Correctional Center or Pontiac Correctional Center.

The budget plan has money for both Stateville and Pontiac.

There are no tax hikes or significant tax relief in the spending blueprint.

The budget measures were approved Saturday afternoon by both the House and Senate with mostly Democratic support and Republican opposition.

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/05/31/news/illinois/doc48420827ef52f452661343.txt?sPos=2

[wifey]

Jims, words never more clearly or eloquently spoken! 
 
I would be willing to bet, based on very personal experience, that a CPS or U-46 school teacher risks their life on a daily basis as well.  The difference is that they don't look at it from the standpoint of a job or how much they will get in retirement, they look at it is as trying to make a significant difference in a kid who will be tempted to behave in a way that will land them in our prison system. These dedicated men and women hope to bring some sense to these kids whose lives have never made sense...growing up without a father, a parent in prison, a sibling murdered, a teen pregnancy, a drug-addict/dealer friend/relative.  Giving these kids options and hope is what their teaching job is about...they will not be able to prevent what the world dishes out but they can hopefully, give kids the tools to deal with these temptations and situations. 

 Wouldn't it be great if prison workers could help lawmakers make educated decisions on what would be a win-win for everyone involved?  Wouldn't it be great to give the benefit of the doubt and take a chance on an inmate who is willing to be rehabbed or reformed?  Why not let in some programs that will work for the common good instead of fueling the "warehousing" of prisoners mentality?  That might also qualify as UTOPIAN!

[insideandout]

Jims - feel free to bring it on - No - on second thought you aren't worth it!  I suppose if I gave a damn about your deluded and warped opinions and rants I would be slightly offended.

[Amarie]

" For every example that you can give of how a prison employee has been rude to your loved one or to a visitor I can probably match you complaint for complaint with inmates that are rude as well."

I know one behavior never excuses another. Each time I step into a prison I wonder what did I do wrong to deserve the disrespect that I am given. I go out of my way to be cordial and respectful and in turn I get someone who treats me like crap.

I didn't commit a crime and my only reason for being at a prison is to visit my LO so why should I be talked to like I am crap and hear the snide comments made on a weekly basis. Why do I feel so degraded when I go there?. I am never loud, rude nor ignorant but I can tell you SOME NOT ALL (the bad truly out weighs the good) guards have made the most inappropiate comments and went out of their way to make me feel bad. WHY!!!!!

I hear people say it is because of how the inmates treat them well I am sure not all inmates are rude, disrespectful of dangerous and what person becomes a correctional offcier and not know what comes with that type of job. I have bad days at work but I could never imagine taking it out on someone who had nothing to do with my day. Why do they get a pass for being nasty simply because of a job they selected?

 

[mamacita1]

Can you imagine what would happen to any government employee that was continously rude to the public and complaints were made about them?  I can tell you that this would cost their jobs....or at the very least, a bad review that eventually could jeapordize their jobs.
CO's know that they can retaliate against our loved ones and most of us know that their situation is difficult enough...we fear that our complaints might further haunt our loved ones.

I am thinking that the COs who are in charge of visitation have a VERY nice job...they are not dealing with hostile inmates or disrespectful individuals who want to see their inmates.  They don't appear to be doing anything intellectually challenging.  I should think that a CO would rather be dealing with visitors than any other duty.  I am wondering....are these their permanent jobs or do they rotate?

mamacita

[Jims]

I think the desk sergeants at Menard go there just before they retire. Every one I've known who has been the visiting room sergeant spends his last year or so in that position. It has to be the plum spot, albeit, boring at times.

[Amarie]

At Western they rotate. It is the same female guards for the most part but every now and then it is someone different. The male guards always rotate so you may see the same male guard maybe every 4th visit.

It is really crazy these people can be sweet as pie one day and then the next they are the rudest people. I have learned to just go with the flow of things. I don't change the way I act or react for any of them. However, I think it is a sorry excuse to justify being rude to visitors because of the inmates behaviors again these people took these jobs knowing what it entailed.

I know it doesn't take a lot of intellect to sit at that desk. It is amazing to me some of the comments they make to people. They once put an out to lunch sign on the window and sat right there in plain view for an hour and ate their lunch while we sat and waited.     

[wifey]

We have been pretty lucky. We don't have any problems, usually.  I have taken the stance that regardless of how any IDOC employee's day is going and how they want to treat people, it is not going to steal my peace, rile me up, and ruin my visit.  Our time together  is much too precious to waste it complaining about someone else's behavior.  We are very respectful, polite, and obedient as is my h.  Let's face it....none of us wants to be there but the fact for the time being is that while we are involved in this process, we do what is right by our own standards.  Those are the only standards and behaviors that we have control over.

[Amarie]

Wifey,

I feel the same way. That is why no matter what they say I don't let it change how I act or react. I refuse to let anyone inside a prison or out take me off my square. I will admit at first it was truly a shock and I took everything personally but now I just roll with the flow trying to get to the back to visit my LO.     

[RT]

I read the entries with alot of interest. I was always told by my parents that if you treat someone nice it will come back to you. I teach that to my kids. I don't see why these people that work there get "out of pocket" with visitors and inmates. I treated inmates fairly when I worked there. I would be lying if I would tell you that I never talked down to some of them. I talked to them the way I was talked to. If they were decent so was I. If they were a jerk, so was I. But never to visitors. No matter how I was talked to I never disrespected a visitor. I have said it before and I will again, it's not like they get a bonus on the check for being an a hole but some think it is their duty to make someone else's life miserable that day. More often than not even his/her fellow employees do not like them either.

Rick

[babybabybaby]

I read the entries with alot of interest. I was always told by my parents that if you treat someone nice it will come back to you. I teach that to my kids. I don't see why these people that work there get "out of pocket" with visitors and inmates. I treated inmates fairly when I worked there. I would be lying if I would tell you that I never talked down to some of them. I talked to them the way I was talked to. If they were decent so was I. If they were a jerk, so was I. But never to visitors. No matter how I was talked to I never disrespected a visitor. I have said it before and I will again, it's not like they get a bonus on the check for being an a hole but some think it is their duty to make someone else's life miserable that day. More often than not even his/her fellow employees do not like them either.

Rick

interesting, their fellow employees don't like them either. hmmmmm. That does make sense. The world in the prison is not any more different than what we allow it to be.
evil prospers when good men/women do nothing.
I work now with a nurse who used to work at the prison near us. She told me that the CO's will get in trouble for retaliation and rudeness. I know our loved ones do. My loved one told me the other day and he tells me all the time how the CO's willwalk a man to SEG for leaving the dining hall with a pack of crackers. That is crap. They will nail our loved ones for disrespect... even unintended disrespect.
The only difference I see in a CO and a new puppy is the puppy stops whining after 6-8 weeks. The days of prison riots are over. The guys are locked up for the majority of every day. Staff is in a position where they can SPIN anything into being a threat to their beloved institution, and throw a man in SEG. The whiners are in contract negotiations now and twice I have heard that SEG had a lot of vacancies, so the CO's there called the cell house and asked their partners to send the inmates over for any offence. WTH. Oh, oh I know the answer teacher - they want to look like they do not have the upper hand and they have to deal with these bad scary men oooo. Just look at how many we have to keepin SEG. WHINERS, PUNKS AND .... well, Evil prospers when good women do nothing.
 So now what cha gonna do?

[Favored23]

I read the entries with alot of interest. I was always told by my parents that if you treat someone nice it will come back to you. I teach that to my kids. I don't see why these people that work there get "out of pocket" with visitors and inmates. I treated inmates fairly when I worked there. I would be lying if I would tell you that I never talked down to some of them. I talked to them the way I was talked to. If they were decent so was I. If they were a jerk, so was I. But never to visitors. No matter how I was talked to I never disrespected a visitor. I have said it before and I will again, it's not like they get a bonus on the check for being an a hole but some think it is their duty to make someone else's life miserable that day. More often than not even his/her fellow employees do not like them either.

Rick

Rick,

I have been visiting for a long time and never ever have I had any words with anyone, but during this time that this female guard was in the visiting area, she would never say hi or smile, and I would say hi even if she did not speak, well at that time I was self employeed and I use to visit my L/O 3 times a week every week.  She did not like that, she would make comments and I would walk away, she was ALL smiles when he came out, and acted very very funny around him and of course we would just leave her alone.  Well one day on a weekend visit me and my honey were playing cards having a good time. Laughing, giggling and just in our OWN WORLD.  Well I beat him so bad in card and I touched him on the chest, cause he said to me, "oh that hurt" and he put his hand on his chest.  Now the visiting room is full to the max, I am all the way in the back and she jumps off the seat where they sit, she's half running and half limping to us, I have never seen her move that fast, she came up to me and SNAPPED!  She made a terrible racist remark to me about having hot blooded hispanic blood and I was in ALL!  My babe could not believe it, well he had to hold me down and I am not kidding. I was so embarresed and hurt, she was just waiting for a moment to go off on me.  Well she called a white shirt and they came to our table and called me by name, because everyone knows us over there, she was smiling and said, okay, okay what is going on!  She did not even let me answer and she walked away and walked out of the visiting area.  She knew we did nothing wrong, well on my way out, 3 guards were at the front desk waiting for me to tell me not to let that guard get away with that for me to complain and call the warden, because they all have problems with that guard. 

I was freaking out the way they were encouraging me to report her.  Well after talking it over with my honey he said, "baby leave it alone it will come back to her, we did nothing wrong and God knows it."  People let me tell you that I have not seen that guard in over 1 year.  I did nothing but pray and she is gone!!!!!!!!!  She had problems with the guard and everyone else on staff and they did not know what to do with her.  I knew none of this till later on.  So everyone out there continue to be who you are and don't allow anyone to change your character.  KARMA is a trip and it always comes back.  In all the years of me dealing with IDOC never ever ever have I had a problem with anyone.  I have had to call the warden before and I get put right through to her, they have never given me excuses or taken messages.  She was once in the chow hall and they put me right through to speak to her.  I don't say this to brag or anything like that, because that is not what I am about, I say all this to say that when you are civil and speak the right way to others they remember you and it gets you a long way!!!!!!!  They know me there by first name and a bunch of them call me sunshine.  Why because I come in with a smile I treat them with kindness, I have even had opportunities to speak about the Lord to some of the female guards and they have accepted my counsel.  2 of the female guards there even embrace me when they go in the search area with me.  Tell me that's not good Karma! 

Much Love to all!  Have a wonderful day! 

[downtownchicago]

Perhaps as a part of officers' training they should be forced to live in the prison for one week, living exactly as an inmate would.  If the treatment of inmates is so humane, then there should be no problem with this, right ?  I mean, officers who are going to use tasers get taser'd, right ?  I would suggest that the officers-in-training experience a week-long lockdown in one of our fine southern Illinois correctional facilities in the middle of a summer heatwave.  Or better yet, in seg, with no TV or radio or other minimal comforts.  A couple of orange crush shakedowns would be most helpful in educating the future officer.

 

[downtownchicago]

And another thing ... don't forget to intermittently cut off phone calls, and treat the officers' visitors like sh*t.  All for the goal of education, "this is what it's like", have some empathy.  We know your job is difficult, but like Jims said you signed up for it.  Most of the time the reason the inmates flip out isn't just because they're in prison, it's because life in prison can be infuriating, all of the things Jims mentioned and many more, 99.99% of which are uncalled for. 

[still]

Favored,

Like you, I have never had an issue with any CO's.  I have been visiting and having to call on and off for thirty years, and I was always raised to treat people the way that you would want them to treat you.  So whether they were having a good day or a bad day, enen if I was having the good or bad day, a smile and politeness does go along way.  Over the years, I have watched many things occur, including CO's trying to explain something to a visitor, but because it was not what that person wanted to hear, have their own mini temper tantrum.  So ultimately it works two ways.   

I am just a strong believer in "kill em with kindness".  Compassion and empathy with anyone and everyone works much better than constantly putting people on the defense.

still

[Favored23]

I need to make something clear........ You know, I know that it is hard.  Sometimes they do go out of their ways to be nasty.  When I hear them like that especially early in the a.m. when we first go in for a visit, I say, OKAY, something has triggered them to react like this, your right sometimes we throw our tantrums, but most of the time it is something that might be going on with them.  Some people may think I am crazy when I posted that I hug some of the guards that I have known for a while, the reason I do it is so they know that it is going to be all right. Of course I never initiate it, but the girls that I know hug ME!  Some come to work, like some of us do, mad, upset, hurt and then have to deal with a bunch of stuff there, does it make it right, NO, but can I make it better for at least a moment, of course I can.  I always try to see beyond the nastiness and TRY to help them bring out a smile, that usually heals everything else. 

Again, I know its hard!!!!!!!! Some of them don't want anything to do with us, WHY, clueless, but If I can be LIGHT to them for a little while I will be.  Don't get me wrong, there are time where I just want to SNAP OUT, but I think, I have to come back here, is it worth it??  And then I make eye contact with them so they can look at me and I put on a big smile and a have a nice day attitude and walk away leaving that last impression in their hearts! 

[ielene]

When I visited Stateville, most were very nice, there was ones that took there job to seriously. My granddaughter looked forward to seeing a lot of them. She would get excited and run up and hug them. A few started looking forward to seeing her and would bend down waiting for there hug. I guess it is hard to be nasty when a cute 2 year old is happy to see you in a prison. There was an older lady in the visiting room that would even help me try and entertain her, however there was also one in the visiting area that seemed to want to make sure she had no fun at all. For the most part they were all very nice. I also realize it is a different world for inmates.

[Jims]

I don't have any problems with c/o's on my visits. I'm always polite and cheerful and don't say or do anything to irk them.
 
But I have seen a lot of rudeness aimed at visitors. Sometimes it seems to be a racial thing, though I can't know for sure. Or there may be som personal baggage there that follows the visitor.