The best job I had from 87-97.
Unless someone has been locked up for a good amount of time or worked as a CO they've no idea how hard it can be at times...hearing that final steel gate or door slam shut, locking you in for the rest of the day and never knowing if that day is "your day".
The loudest sound was when you could hear a cricket fart in the mess hall...with 6-700 inmates on each side they could and have taken over sections of the prison. The odds are 100 to 1 against staff on any given shift so if they so choose to act up there's not much we could do in the immediate moment.
As a precautionary measure and also for the fact CO's weren't allowed to wear body armor inside the facilities, I would put a Readers Digest or old style TV Guide over each kidney and a larger magazine around the liver area then have my wife at the time secure them with an Ace bandage to try and prevent major damage in a shank assault. The pay is great, having made close to $50k my 1st year with a base salary of only $27k in 87-88...
It's not for everyone tho...I've seen new boots come iin, work the mess hall once and walk up top, hand in their ID's and never return. It doesn't matter if one can fight, altho it helps, it depends how well you can handle convicts talking shit to you when you're pretty much solo, how well you are with your word or no snitching. They can read ppl just by their body language.
I miss it alot...