Life as a Prison Guard's Wife

It's usually nearly 7 PM when my husband comes home from work. He is usually dragging tail looking exhausted as ever while throwing his uniform by the washer. He is a happy camper after he eats, showers, and has been home for a little bit to wind down. The conversations are a lot different from the average joe when I ask my husband how his day went at work. I hear a lot of things like, "I almost got stabbed."or "An inmate hung himself today."

My husband has one of the hardest jobs out there. Prison guards should be paid a lot more than what they receive. He works 13 hours on his feet. He faces the scum of the earth daily. My job is to be there for him and help take care of him when he gets home after getting gassed or in a fight. He sometimes will come home wearing someone else's blood because of a fight. There is almost always a bad riot that happens that puts the prison on lock-down for a while. Prisoners make shanks all the time and are always attempting to stab a prison guard. My husband says he feels all kinds of negative vibes walking throughout the prison. It's an uneasy feeling knowing how dangerous and terrifying his job is and what all goes on there daily. Sometimes, I feel the need to throw some olive oil on him and rebuke anything just in case when he walks in the door.

How can somebody walk among a hundred and fifty convicted felons unarmed and feel completely normal? It's hard enough for me to sit in front of the TV while watching Breaking Bad. I couldn't even imagine doing anything close to what he does because my job is a nanny. We both are babysitters, except he babysits grown men that have murdered citizens. How does one person control that many inmates on a normal daily basis? The answer is firm, fair, and consistent. Installing fear in them is also another way. It takes a lot of mental strength out of my husband. One thing that prison guards have to do is leave work at work because if not, it will affect the home life. 

As a wife, when he walks in the door, I always make sure to greet him with a kiss, smile, and food on the table because most likely he went all day with eating next to nothing. At the end of the day, I always thank my husband for everything he does for me. Also, I count my blessings that he comes home safe and not attacked or severely injured by an inmate.