Hillsborough County Jail

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Inmates

Interview with Aaron and Jessica

JM: Did you find it difficult to get along with other inmates? Please give examples to explain why you did or didn't.
Aaron: I kept to myself at first to scout out who was cool and who wasn't. My roommate was a real nice guy that had many friends inside so I was introduced to the right people when I started coming out of my shell. I got along with many people there because of my intellect and willingness to help people with their cases or just to listen to why they were in the same place I was. The people that I didn't get along with were, in all cases, those that I was never approached by for regular conversation. These were people that were accustomed to being around people that argued alot or were aggressive in their tactics of getting their point across. I also did not get along with those people that were always trying to con me out of food or items in my possession. On the most part I got along with people there.
Jessica: I kept to myself pretty much. Sat in my cell and read.

JM: What types of things did you have to do to avoid problems or fights with other inmates?
Aaron: Exercised or read in my cell. I also made sure that I was around those that I had a positive connection with when I ate my meals or watched TV. I avoided playing basketball with aggressive people that took things way to personally. Once I grabbed a few salt packets off of a table that I was not sitting at before I went to eat in my room since I was having one of "those days". An inmate yelled at me for not saying "excuse me" which he was right in saying but he took things too far and when I lashed back at him verbally for reacting the way he did we almost came to blows. We were cool before that instance so it was no problem for me to apologize to him later on that day. He admitted that he was also having a bad day and attributed that to the reason why he reacted that way towards me.
Jessica: I kept to myself, didn't really talk to a lot of people.

JM: Were you able to choose an inmate as your cellmate if you knew one? How often would your cellmate(s) change?
Aaron: No. I was put into a cell with a guy that had the cell to himself for three weeks. When he was moved to his own cell upstairs, I was given a new roommate. When that guy was transferred out of the jail, within an hour I was given a problem inmate as a roommate until he was kicked out of our pod for not going to work.
Jessica: No, roommates were assigned to cells.