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A road trip? Don't mind if I do............!
(this blog was originally posted by tgdindenmark 28 June, 2014)
"Only days before the anticipated joyous journey to America, I had posted unto my Facebook profile a comment, in which I expressed my excitement to be, once again, ‘cruising the American Highway.’ Looking at this vehicle which I was about to enter, and which would be transporting me from Dallas, Texas, to Rock Springs, Wyoming, I realized that I was about to have the pleasure of ‘cruising the highway’...and it might just be more highway excitement than I had wished for!
So, here I stood, able to send a little wink and a nod as a silent ‘hello’ to my new ‘compadres’ already inside the white SUV; that is, before I felt a push in the back by the female agent in charge, whom apparently didn’t think that I was getting into the vehicle fast enough. Figuring that I had broken the ice by the winking and the nodding at the three males whom I would be traveling with during our little road trip, it didn’t dawn on me that they, in fact, may have been frightened by the sight of a female whom after life behind bars in Texas County Jail, now had acquired the look of a crazed person, thus in perfect character with the criminal persona to which I had been labeled. By the time I plumped down unto the passenger seat, I was drenched in sweat from the Texas humidity which I wasn’t exposed to while incarcerated; and as the pod had been at a temperature equal to that of an ice cold meat locker, the heat and humidity combined was therefore surging my body temperature at the speed of light, while trying to cool it down by pouring moist from every sweat gland of the body; the hair resembled that of Medusa, and the paleness of the skin which had now gone through all the shades of grey was now a tint of pale green- in addition to feet gone gnarly, with the turquoise nail polish chipping off the unclipped toenails, exposed for everyone to see as the agent had denied me my shoes, and in exchange for my high heeled sandals had given me a pair of flip-flops...three sizes too big. The dramatic weight loss during the nearly two weeks in jail due to not eating left my body looking awkwardly slinky in the skinny jean which was now slouching about the lower part of my body. In other words: Thanks to Dallas County Jail I was now looking like a live version of the Grinch.
Only minutes after the handcuffs were snapped unto the wrists, they started to cause grueling pain as they were on entirely too tight; the same went for the shackles which were gnawing into the skin of the ankles. And by the look of the discomfort on the faces of a couple of the other transportees, I wasn’t the only one in pain. The only one not grunting words about the nightmare at hand was the nonspeaking Latino next to me. I wondered if it was because he was beyond the state of feeling any sort of pain as his body most likely had reached the state of absolute numbness hours ago. He had been trapped in the car for three days prior to stopping in Dallas where the two other compadres and myself were picked up and added to the joyride from hell, and was moving, hour by hour, toward his destination, and he had done so without even one single chance to shower, and with very few stops to relieve himself of bodily waste. According to the schedule he would remain in this condition and in the vehicle for at least another 48 hours, restrained by the dangling metal chains which connected the handcuffs and shackles at the waist.
Flying through one state after another, endless miles were laid behind while moving us further and further away from Texas, at a speed way above the legal limit! I couldn't help but wonder how someone like Ms. Agent from Hell had been able to be hired by a subcontractor of Uncle Sam as one should think, that in order to be allowed to transport inmates, such person would have to show the ability to not only adhere to the traffic rules, but also to the standard rules of how to handle the transportees without cruelty. She, as well as her partner, proved throughout the seventeen hours that they were incapable of either. Let’s count the violations, shall we:
1. Driving recklessly and endangering all of our lives while acting like little speed demons rather than responsible individuals contracted by the United States Government, thereby violating the law in not only one but four states!
2. Ignoring the safety standards of the vehicle, as one of the tires was unbalanced, particular there was a problem with the left rear tire being dangerously close to illegal as the threads were worn thin (identified by one of the other transportees on his way back from one of the few pit stops)
3. Driving continuously with the brights on throughout the entire night! Excuse me, but is it not one of the first lessons in Drivers Education that lights must be dimmed 500 feet of oncoming traffic? (Only god only knows how many of the semi-trucks from the oncoming traffic were swearing at us!)
4. Ignoring the transportees’ request of stopping the vehicle at a resting area in order to utilize the toilet facilities. (Over and over…and over again!) 5. Ignoring the request by several of the transportees to loosen the handcuffs due to increased pain and clear indication of edema to hands and feet caused by the restraints. (Also, over and over, and over…again!)
And so went our trip up and down the highways of America; filling in the space of time with small talk, slowly forging comradery minute by minute, as we were all conjoined in a strange dimension of time, through the same surreal experience…feeling the same discomfort of the worn seats, the same pain from chains and cuffs on our hands and feet, that were all simultaneously swelling at the same pace, and at the very same places on our bodies; the increasing sensation of tiredness not being satisfied by sleep due the constant change of temperature in the vehicle… going from hot and humid to extreme cold, the air prickling the skin like tiny icy shards as it aimed and shot directly at us from the air conditioner; only to again feel an equally extreme heat after we all quietly complained about the unsatisfactory cold temperature, the turning point in which Ms. agent-from-hell decided to turn off the air conditioner…permanently! The small talk was abrupted by the surprise of being driven to and fed by no less than Mexican cuisine...also known as Taco Bell fast food. After a quick assessment and calculation of the potential disasters which may happen during the next few hours if bean burritos were digested while no toilets were available, I declined the invitation to order and eat; and by the looks of the pained facial expressions of my fellow passengers while squirming in their seats, continuously requesting the windows to be opened despite the rapid drop of temperature outside, indicated to me that some of them may have wished that they had not accepted the bean burritos in haste, though in order to satisfy their hunger, either.
After picking up and squeezing into the already filled vehicle yet another inmate extradited, we were offered another meal, this time at McDonald’s…only to find myself declining the invitation to this meal, also. This time due to the fact that I didn’t believe I could hold the breakfast sandwich in my hands. The edema of the hands had after the 15 hours in the vehicle started to slowly spread to the lower part of the arm restricting the handcuffs even more and causing overall numbness. By the time we parked in front the Sweetwater County Jail, I no longer had the ability to feel pain do to numbness and fatigue. Never have I ever felt so relieved as at the moment when I, along with one of the other transportees, was turned over to Sweetwater County authorities.
Put, once again, in a holding cell while waiting to be booked, and to deliver another set of fingerprints, another set of mug shots, endlessly trying for the retina scanner to accept my green eye image as my new fingerprint, and have the tattoos on my body photographed and entered into Uncle Sam’s data system, and to once again trade my street clothes for another set of state issued attire (in which I had the pleasure, this time, to be dressed from head to toe in a yellow jumpsuit) I felt as if I was watching all of this madness from afar, momentarily incapable of comprehending that this was happening to me. I blame the inability to process the whole incident due to the fact that I had been awake for almost 48 hours, whereas the last seventeen hours restrained in the most cruel way. I wouldn’t be lying when I say that I felt as if my very existence had somehow separated itself from my physical body. I heard the questions being asked, I heard the instructions which I was to follow, and I heard the tray with food placed unto and pushed slowly through the iron door slat; but it was as if someone else was answering the questions; it was as if someone else was following the instructions given; and it was as if someone else had ignored the turkey sandwich on the tray, and devoured the chocolate cookie only, because the swollen hands failed the task of holding anything bigger than the little round sweetness. The only thing that both the mind and the body were in perfect alliance with one another about was that we as a whole were now aware of the fact that we were at the place of which the very root to the nightmare originated. And, despite sitting here in yet another cell, thinking about what I had endured thus far, yet sensing that this nightmare wouldn’t end until I was safe (and not so sound) back unto the European continent, I was ready for Wyoming, once again…"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Please note:
Handcuffing as excessive force is, to certain degrees, considered a violation of the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution, as displayed here:
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