Freedom and Empowerment

I work in a men's psychiatric prison.  There are many constraints to working in the prison. For many years, one constraint has been the locked restrooms.  Each ward has restrooms, and outside of each office suite there are restrooms.  These are all locked, and the keys to the restrooms were available from correctional officers on each ward, the nurses on each ward, and one set of keys for each office suite.

Can you imagine how difficult it might be to deal with having to find a key for a restroom when you are in urgent need of using the restroom?  And, sometimes, if you went to the ward, the officers made rude comments about your bathroom activities. 

Over the years, we have devised multiple strategies to have the office suite key available for staff: One staff member checks out the key, but shares it with others. One staff member checks out the key, and locks it in a cabinet that other staff have access to. These solutions have their upsides, but mostly their downsides.

Most recently, a staff member requested a bathroom key, and was denied. He was denied because the prison really tries to limit keys. But the key controller suggested that the bathroom key core be changed, so it is accessible by the key that provides access to the office suite area.

That was implemented Monday afternoon, late.  Wednesday, several of us in the administrative area, physicians, security staff, and clerical staff, as well as myself, remarked at how empowered and freed we feel because we basically have unlimited access to the restroom.

This is a small thing. But this is a reminder about how important the respect of human dignity is in  the grand scheme of things.

I find myself saying daily "YES" I have power: I have a bathroom key!

Games

I have been watching a little bit of the XXX Games of the Olympiad http://www.olympic.org/. And, I just finished reading The Hunger Games.

Eerie parallels.  I think the eeriest for me was when an Olympic athlete was interviewed about his being chosen the flagbearer for the closing ceremonies.  The Hunger Games  included a lot of official publicity duties for the contestants.

Another parrallel: The 1936 Olympics http://www.olympic.org/berlin-1936-summer-olympics when Hitler wanted to use the Olympics as a showcase for his Aryan superiority philosphy.  What I have read about Germany during that time was that Hitler hid all the German policies while the games were in progress. How fragile the meaning of the games can be, if put in the wrong hands.

As with the Olympic games, the Hunger Games had Games Makers that design the look and feel of the games, and help to prepare the athletes. 

Doing some reading about The Hunger Games, it was as I thought.  The name of the country Panem was taken from the Latein "panem et circenses" http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/Panem, literally "bread and circuses." This was the Roman policy of feeding and entertaining the masses to keep them from worrying about the real problems of the day. While that was not the purpose of The Hunger Games, they did serve to distract people from their everyday woes. And they did serve to keep the districts at odds with each other, so they could not unite and revolt against the central government.

I think it is so important to keep things in perspective, and to be knowledgeable about what is happening poitically around the world.

Settling In

Haiku has settled in on my bed for a nap.  Taki, on the other hand, is patiently hoping for a snack.  She started life behind, and is small in stature but has a big belly!  I hate ignoring her when she asks for a snack, but I do, for her own benefit.  I generally ignore Sake, but she has lost some weight, which she needed to do, but also makes me wonder if she does not feel well. So, if the canned food is not eaten, and she wants a snack, she gets one.  Haiku, on the other hand, has always been a shy and picky eater.  For the longest time, I could not feed her near Sake, who could dissuade her from eating with a glare. Haiku is more assertive about eating now, and lets me know if she wants dry food, by waiting for a meal on the bed (where I moved her food due to Sake's glare) or if she wants tuna, by sitting looking very forlorn in the kitchen.  She does not eat other moist or canned cat food regularly, although she occasionally grazes after the food has been out for a while.

But, Haiku has been assertive about finding a spot to sit. She likes to sit with me. She has started spending more time on the sofa with me, and so have Sake and Taki. She is no longer dissuaded from being with me when they are around.

Tonight, Sake and Haiku were in the computer room with me. That is unusual.  I am so glad they spend more time in the same room at the same time.  And, they trade out places to lay.  These are new things that have started since Taki came to stay.

Gatherings

Lately, there have been multiple episodes when there are two cats in the same room at the same time.  In places where they did not used to gather.  And often, there are three cats in the same place in the same time.  This is amazing and good. I do not know what motivates this. I do not think it is companionship.  I think it everyone keeping an eye on everyone else.  But, I have hopes that it is a good thing.

Cats Games

This has been a deliciously wonderful weekend for watching my cats at play.  As I have mentioned, the addition of the kitten, Taki, to my household has really changed the balance of power with my cats.

Taki is, as are so many kittens, very playful.  She races around, playing with cat toys, grabbing at laundry, claiming toilet tissue.  She climbs on the cat stroller, and loves to play in and around it. She can occasionally get the older cats to play with her:  She and Sake play patty cake, or play around the scratching post.  If she plays with Haiku, who does not have much of a repertoire of play, it is usually chase and hide and seek. 

I spend a lot of time watching the cat games.  

I think this must be obvious to people who know me, because I received this link for cat patty cake from more than one person:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc

Shared Space

I know I have written about the balance of power between the cats in my house.  For the longest time, Sake dominated Haiku, who was sweet, submissive, and demur.  Haiku seemed pleased to have a home where she was treated well, got special food treats, plenty to eat, no one yelled at her, and she could cuddle. Sometimes, when she slept on my chair at the computer, I used to sit on her unwittingly, so when she saw me approach, she would speak up.  And, I set up a chair for her, with the afghan that used to be on my computer chair, near my computer chair.  So, now when I approach, she still speaks up, but I just greet her as she is on her own chair.

After I got replacement windows, a lot of that changed, and Sake and Haiku could be in the same place at the same time: on the sofa, on my bed, in the garage.  They just wanted to be near the open windows and proxemics did not seem to matter.

When I brought Taki into the house, the balance of power changed again.  Haiku is less demur, and more confident. There are many times, when all three of the cats sit with me in close proximity.  Most recently, as is so often many mornings, Haiku comes to the northwest side of the bed, Sake to the southwest side of the bed, and Taki comes from the east and roams up and down.

Yesterday, we sat on the sofa:  Sake was on my arm to the right, Haiku on the foot rest, and Taki to my left.

I enjoy the cats sharing space with me.  The balance of power changes, the proxemics change, but the characters involved in the process stay the same.

Grooming

It is well known that grooming, and attention to personal appearance is an indicator of one's mental status in humans.  I think the same must be true of cats. 

Although Sake has always had too much fur, she groomed herself very well when she was younger.  I am not sure when, but sometime in the last 5 or 6 years, she stopped grooming as meticulously, and sometimes would have horribly large mats on her.  And she was very vicious towards me when I tried to take them off.

When Take arrived, Sake had some terrible mats on her britches.  I tried to cut them off, using my surreptitious scissors.  It got to the point where I loosened the mats, and they flapped, but that was as much as Sake would let me do... So, for several days, she walked around with this nasty mat flapping on her.  Then, finally, I grabbed her and cut the mat off. I know if felt better, because since then, she has let me check her britches, and let me cut off budding mats that occur.

But something else has happened:  she is grooming herself again, and keeping the major mats out.

Haiku, on the other hand, always groomed herself well until after Taki arrived. Then, I noticed she started having mats, especially near her hips.  She did not like me to comb them out.  But I did, regularly.  That persisted until Taki had been with us about three and an half months. All of a sudden, Haiku started grooming herself again .

I am not sure what made the difference, but whatever it was, I am glad. 

All of My Girls

For years, Sake and Haiku could not be on the sofa or bed or at the dining table with me at the same time.  When I put replacement windows on the house, and opened the windows behind the sofa, that changed. While they could not sit near each other, they could be on opposite ends of the sofa at the same time.  As long as I did not make too much of this, the tenuous situation could exist.

As I have noted previously, the presence of Taki has changed the balance of power: although Sake is still the bitch kitty supreme, Haiku is no longer totally subservient and submissive. And, she makes her wishes known to me independent of Sake, something she did not do just a few months ago. Or, if she did, she was so hesitant and meek, she seemed uncomfortable doing so.  I did always try to acknowledge her requests and presence.  And, I still do.  The increased confidence she is exhibiting is tenuous, at best but heartening.

Until last night, though, all three cats have not been present and visiting with me at the same time:  until then, it was any two in combination:  mostly Haiku and Taki, but sometimes Haiku and Sake, or less frequently, Sake and Taki.  Well, last night, in the living room, Sake was on the arm of the sofa, Haiku was on the back of the sofa, and Taki was on the seat at the other end. I made the mistake of remarking on this, and  the moment went away. 

Tonight, all three were in the living room again, not on the sofa, but gathered around in companionable proximity.  All I was missing was a fireplace and a rocking chair.  But, that is okay, I am glad I have three precious cats.