Moving people around at my prison is such a common tactic that it seems to be a driving force of the administration. Each move spurs one of the main stressors of prison: living with a new cellmate in a confined area about the size of a compact car.
People who have not been incarcerated may not understand why cellmates would have more stress living together than typical roommates. A cell is not the same as a room.
In reality, the prison is like an isolated town with nowhere to go. And the cell is our whole house. It’s your living room, kitchen, closet, bathroom and bedroom. You must share all of this with a stranger — too often, a violent stranger — who is confined to house arrest there too.
Can free people imagine cohabitating in one room, that is locked from the outside, with a stranger who has a different culture, different morals and different beliefs?
Conflicted pairings
Near-constant lockup has become a popular administration tactic to deal with severe staffing problems. Depending on the prison and your assigned security level, you may be in your cell for 23 hours a day. Even if you are allowed to leave to go to work, school or the yard, some cellmates choose to stay in the cell all day. You may come back hoping for quiet time to unwind, but your cellmate is working out.
It does not take much to start a conflict under these circumstances.
I had a cellmate who wanted to fight over anything. If I was quiet, he would say, “Why are you mad? Wanna fight?” If I made some noise writing a letter, he would say, “You don’t let me sleep — never! Wanna fight?”
Another cellmate would wake me up in the middle of the night with incessant politeness: “Biktor, Biktor, I’m gonna use the toilet. I’m letting you know so you don’t startle when I flush it.”
On the other end of this continuum, I had a cellmate who would paint through the night, not caring that this woke me up. After I moved to another cell, I found out he regularly used “speed.” No wonder he stayed up all night.
Murder vs. murder
Beyond degrees of aggression and communication, some people don’t work well together, not even people convicted of the same crimes. I see odd pairings constantly.
For instance, if a 20-year-old gang member convicted of the murder of a fellow gang member at a house party is placed in a cell with a 55-year-old man convicted of the murder of his wife, there will be an immediate culture clash.
Even the most naive gang members know that they could face prison time (unless they are killed first). They know it and accept it. For the gang member, prison life becomes second nature.
On the other hand, the older man entered a new environment he never expected to be in and had no experience with. His incarceration is like taking a kangaroo to live at the North Pole.
What does a 20-year-old gang member have in common with a 55-year-old suburbanite? Nothing but a murder conviction.
Hustler vs. homeless
Another possibility is a drug trafficker — a man with plenty of money who lived to give orders and do whatever he pleased, convicted of the murder of an associate — with a man who had been homeless. Their lifestyles were so different that conflict will inevitably arise.
The drug trafficker is stubborn and, because he ran a powerful enterprise, feels that it is an honor for anyone to associate with him. In his mind, this other man should be proud to be allowed to live in “his” cell. The other man, meanwhile, is accustomed to not owning much and may pick things out of the garbage, looking for anything useful.
Both men lived a criminal life but on opposite sides of the food chain. The first man only sees the second as a filthy old man who collects trash.
Bright future vs. day-by-day
Yet another hard pairing puts a young college student who was selling prescription drugs in order to pay his tuition with a 45-year-old heroin addict who has been in and out of prison for 20 years.
This scenario could create massive tension. The youngster made a terrible decision, unaware of the heavy consequences awaiting him. The older man only wanted a daily fix.
If the older man does not get that fix, you would be better off sleeping on a bed of snakes and having a rabid dog for a cellmate. He will do what it takes to fund a drug source. So check your locker, because he will steal from you.
The best mindset for the young man is toward a better future. Yet his cellmate’s tack is day by day.
What a living hell for each of them. The former must face a man whose life revolves around drugs — a close example of where his customers could end up. The latter must live with someone who reaps more opportunity than he himself probably ever had.
The golden rule
Getting a new cellmate is stressful and, odds are, living with that cellmate will be too.
If you ever come to prison, be prepared to encounter the most peculiar individuals and frustrating situations.
Do not rush to get in a fight every time your cellmate does something you deem unreasonable or calls you out. Prison is not like the movies. Fighting will only get you in deeper trouble.
Instead, be patient, be humble and treat others how you want to be treated — in and out of your cell.