Well, fork over your last two bucks. We ate when we had the chance. There was no set lunch or supper break. It wasn’t contracted by the Union. At Auburn we’d eat when the inmates were locked in for the count, and before they were run to the messhall. That was a half-hour if we were lucky, and no guarantees you’d get to eat. When I was at Midstate in Marcy, NY, I’d stop on the way into work and get a salad or sub. Since I didn’t eat breakfast, and worked 3-11, I tried to eat as soon as I got to my supervisory area, because you never knew what the evening was going to bring. If I got a radio call to report to a certain area because of a problem, I had to set it aside for if, or when I finally got back to it. I’d be rich today if I got a $1 for every time my meal had been interrupted to respond to a radio call over those 25 years.
I truly believe NY is the most irresponsible bureaucracy I’ve EVER heard. of. Even in the nuthouses there were no ways to smuggle in contraband, in PA. It happened, sure, but there were checks and balances.