Vignette 4 Out of the abysmal

Only a prisoner (and possibly a prison officer) can truly understand the sheer tedium of prison life. Without considerable effort, the fact is every day is Groundhog Day – depressingly identical to the last and the next. The majority of each day is spent in what is, to all intents and purposes, a large toilet – which is often without a lid so life is lived, and meals consumed, next to an open sewer. Being trans I’m lucky in that I never have to share my cell/toilet with another prisoner but even so the uniformity of the environment is bleak, with any attempt to personalise your living space frowned upon and treated as a disciplinary offence....