Mornings

The mornings are the worst. We wake up at 5 a.m., get up to brush our teeth and shave. Also we have to make our beds perfectly with a six-inch collar and 45-degree angles at the end of our beds. Of course, we can’t have any wrinkles in our beds.

After we finish making our beds and complete our hygiene, we just sit (not lay) on our beds and wait for breakfast. When we are called for breakfast, we go outside and line up. Once everyone is lined up, we march to breakfast. The chow hall is close, so we don’t have to march far. It’s only two buildings away. We go in and eat, and then line back up outside again. We only have about 10 minutes to eat our food.

Anyway, after we line up, we march back to our dorm where we get a five-minute cigarette break for those who smoke, then we go back inside where we sit on our bunks for the next hour and a half until 8 a.m. when the next [CO] shift comes on.

It seems like the mornings drag and it never seems like you get a full night’s sleep. A lot of times, I stay tired throughout the day and go to sleep really early. That’s the only way to get any decent sleep. Even then, you still have people waking you up until Lights Out. I just can’t wait to sleep in my own bed.