I have an amusing anecdote to share. I have a friend who lives in Tucson
and he tries to visit me whenever possible. I don’t get many visits so
they are really important to me. Jack had been meaning to drive up for
the last four months, without success. Finally he found himself free to
visit. The prison has a dress code for visitors. One item that cannot be
worn by visitors is blue jeans, the reason being that we used to wear
blue jeans when we were at Cell Block Six. Most other prison units still
wear blue jeans, whilst here at Eyman we now wear bright orange jump
suits. So if a prisoner makes an escape he can easily be located.

So on Sunday morning I was in the visitation room waiting to see Jack.
All the visitors came in and there was no Jack. The visitation officer
came to my window and told me that Jack would be a few minutes late. She
did not say why. A few minutes later I noticed Jack at the entrance
door. Since there is a large visitation desk in the center of the room,
all I could see was that Jack was wearing what appeared to be 1970s’
style polyester pants with very large and loud plaid designs. When he
walked around the desk that was obstructing my view, I could see that
his pants had no legs! It looked as if he was wearing a long Scottish
kilt or dress.

As I was checking what Jack was wearing, my eyes looked past him only to
notice that every visitor as well as convict in the room was staring
intently at Jack and me. Although it was only a few seconds during which
everyone’s attention was focused on the two of us, it seemed as if an
eternity had passed. Not a sound could be heard. It was so very surreal.
When one talks about shock and embarrassment, nothing could top this
experience.

After the moment passed I asked Jack what was going on. He explained
that since the prisoners were now wearing bright orange jump suits, then
he assumed that nobody could confuse a visitor wearing blue jeans with a
prisoner making an escape. However, the visitation officer refused to
let Jack visit in blue jeans. A supervisor was summoned and Jack asked
him if the rules prohibited him from wearing a dress? After careful
consideration they said he could wear a dress. I guess no one thought
about cross-dressing when they formulated the rules! So Jack made his
exit and went back to his car. In the trunk he had a large plaid table
cloth he and his family used for picnics. He wrapped it around himself
and made a small hole at his waist through which to pass his belt so
that the dress would not fall down. European dress designers beware.

The rest of the visit went well. After all of the visitors left I was
inundated with questions from all the convicts. Such as - 'What’s up
with that? ... Who was that guy? ... Why was he wearing a dress?'  It
took half an hour to begin to calm matters down. Today, a week later, I
did not have a visit, but when one of the men from this pod who was out
there last week came back from his visit today he told me that all the
guys were still talking and laughing about Jack’s wardrobe choice of a
week ago. I am sure it will be discussed for years to come.

No one ever remembers having seen or heard of a similar situation at
visitation. I have to admit that this had to have been the funniest
event inside these cold hard walls in the 15 years I have been here. A
touch of much-needed comic relief goes a long way in this place.

             ........................................

Richard Rossi, #50337
Death Row, ASPC-Eyman
P O Box 3400
FLORENCE, Arizona 85232
[August 1998]