Day 70 (12/1/14) "Beauty Queens and Dirty Birds"

It is a beginning of a new month. I have been here 10 weeks. The last 70 days I have been in two housings, 4 different cells, I’ve had eight cellmates, I have read 14 books, received 160 emails, 13 postcards, I’ve walked to the chow hall 63 times, and have eaten 9 pieces of chocolate cake. 

We had laundry exchange today and the only sizes left for pants were small, medium, or 3X. They were out of large, XL, XXL, really ? Supposedly they didn’t have enough time to stock their cart. I usually wear a large so, my choices were medium or 3X. I couldn’t take the 3X as 3 of me could fit in them. So, I had to take the medium. The mediums fit, but they are tight and I’m not looking to wear “skinny jeans” in jail ! I want to be comfortable, not trying to look good. My Husband is at home, I have no one here to try and look good for. I wear no make up, I traded my contacts for glasses, and my hair is in a bun or a pony tail every day. I don’t care, there is no one to impress. I shower everyday, brush my teeth, brush my hair, I have excellent hygiene. I just have no desire to get “dolled” up in here. There are women who do. They wear eyeliner, mascara, they do their hair all up and fancy every day. They make their own colored eyeliner using colored pencils. I guess if you are going to be here a while, you do it to feel normal and to feel good. I can’t judge or complain, at least they take care of themselves. We have the “beauty queens” and then we have the “dirty birds”. The women who don’t shower, don’t brush their teeth, don’t brush their hair, and smell really bad. No one wants to be roommates with them. No one wants to sit by them on chow hall. Please do not sit by my while I’m watching TV if you don’t shower. No one wants to smell you. The women in here don’t like it when you don’t have basic hygiene. Some will tell you straight out that you need to shower, others will announce that the showers are free and that there is  shampoo and soap, please use it ! 

I have been lucky enough to have clean roommates and I just try to stay away from the “dirty birds”. Another day down.