First of many entries on the jail

I've been at the Cook County Jail now for 2 days and I'm amazed at how much I like it there. I've been there before and in general the first time around was just getting used to the culture and there were so many things to take in. Observing the whole prisoner/guard dynamic. Then there is the provider/prisoner dynamic. Then even the guard/provider dynamic. I got warned a lot about watching myself, being careful, the typical. But I think what stuck with me is that these "criminals" are people in the end. Yeah some of them have probably done horrible things but the majority of them end up making not the smartest decisions. A lot of them have addictions that lead them to jail. A lot of mental health issues. It is amazing to see how prevalent the racial lines are when it comes to prison. The number of black/hispanic compared to white is simply incredible. The waiting line for the family/friends that are visiting outside of the prison all come from minority backgrounds. I read this book called Courtroom 302 that gave me a lot of insight into the Cook County Justice system.

The second time around, I think I really just see myself actually being able to be a part of this world and getting deeper. I have been focusing on HIV care in the past two days and working with a really cool attending - Dr. Z. His bedside manner and ability to just be real with the patients is really inspiring. There are some ridiculous stories of injustice that happen to people that need their medications and totally don't get them because of the system. The attendings that I've worked with care (there are your share that whine, but what work place doesn't have that) and overall its a friendly work environment. I don't know, the whole experience feels very real. It is real people, real stories and you see so many aspects of our society collide - health, justice, the role poverty plays, the role race plays, politics...I could go on. This was just a brief entry. Call me naive but I truly believe that there are no bad people in the world. Things happen to them that make them make bad decisions. Talking to these people allows me to break the stereotypes in my head and reminds me that in the end, "crimnals/prisoners" are people. They deserve respect and they deserve a system that actually works at rehabilitating rather than blind punishment. I'll describe how the system works in another entry. I am not allowed a camera in the place but I'm going to post some google images of what I walk into. I feel like there is so much to say but this was just an intro.