A prisoner popularly called Cyclops, collapsed in the messhall during breakfast at the Frackville prison in East-Central Pennsylvania. For years he'd been dying from cancer. He was very sick. He suffered terribly. He was only in his thirties, but hobbling in agony. A year before, the prisoner, Mr. Richardson, weighed 200+ pounds. He was robust and athletic, good natured. The disease wasted him, made him grim and curt. He went with little treatment and less concern. The staff neglected him. To do anything else would have interfered with their laziness. He should have been in a hospital, but he was only a dying prisoner. He happened to be Afro-American, but he could have been any of the thousand twenty-seven prisoners at Frackville. Dozens are seriously ill. Dozens are dying and neglected. When Cyclops collapsed he weighed about 90 pounds. He should have been in a hospital. In Pennsylvania a black prisoner, or any prisoner, with cancer or another serious disease is just raw material used to give jobs to prison staff. Like slavering wolves, seven guards restlessly prowled around the dying prisoner after he fell. They did nothing to help. One may have gotten around to phoning the medical department. After a while a nurse of PA happened by. She came pretty quickly because the body was obstructing the serving line. That would delay the guards. They were anxious to get started loafing. Like forty clowns on a baseball squad, Pennsylvania prisons are vastly over-staffed. That's what prisons are really all about, jobs for the staff. Prisoners are simply the raw material. There are about twice the number of staff that are really needed. That makes the prison administrators feel more important. Like a baseball team with forty clowns, the huge excess of guard lieutenants, guard captains, guard majors, deputies this-n-that, unit managers, who's-its, what's-its and their assistants, have more lackeys to boss around, or really, more lackeys not to properly manage. Five guards circled the writhing Cyclops. Two guard sergeants wondered over to chat and stand in the circle. None of them helped the prisoner. None of them cared that the man was suffering. None of them cared that the prisoner was dying. To care about a prisoner would make a guard seem weak. Guards are afraid to seem weak. It was better to watch a man die. What the staff cared about was getting the breakfast line speeding along. The guards had some serious loafing to do. As it happened, Mr. Richardson out-lasted them. He lived at least long enough to be hauled from the messhall. Prison is a university. The prisoners witnessing the incident learned the lesson. They were taught how important it was not to care about another person, not to care about a person in pain, not to care about a person dying. The prisoners learned that what was really important was to appear to be strong. If you're strong, you avoid criticism. Of course, they learned the vital importance of being lazy. And don't get sick in Frackville! Rebecca's Bargain Antiques Collectible Vintage Photos Fine Prints - Old Maps Sheet Music - Old Books Elegant Antiques and Collectibles "One dies only once, and it's for such a long time!" Moliere, 1656 You are welcome to use or republish any of our material. Please give www.prisoners.com credit as the source. Return to the Glimpse of Prison Life Menu. Return to the Medical Care Menu. Return to the Frackville Prison Menu. Return to the Main Menu. Go to our site's Search Engine. Send us Your Comments, Questions or Input.