@murksiderock
you mention the large amount of fights you got into in a short period of time. Would you say it's basically impossible to avoid fights in prison via politicking and minding your business? Can you be the "cool dude" in prison and basically avoid any static during your bid?
obviously prison is another level of manipulation and pressure but I navigated a high school that was pretty much a warzone by moving right, staying out the mix (gambling, gangs) and rolling with a core unit of dudes so if I was in a floor or bathroom that was active i had numbers
It's not impossible but there are alot of factors at play. First and foremost how you present yourself to others goes a long way in determining your involvement in bullshyt. If you present yourself as a tough guy, guys are gonna want to find out. If you present yourself as a money getter, guys are gonna want to see it. If you affiliate with people closely there's an expectation that should there ever be beef, their beef is your beef. On and on and on...
Age is also a factor. The older a guy is the less cats are prone to check them, not that it doesn't happen, but 40 and 50 and 60+ year olds aren't generally involved in drama unless they want to be. So yes if you're young guys definitely expect you to act a certain way...
Most of my fights during my incarceration were gang related. I had others that weren't, like me and one guy got into it in the box then when we came out we lined it up for all the shyt talking. I had a fight with a guy on the rec yard in county while awaiting sentencing, who singled me out because I'm a smaller guy. Had the fight with the COs and had one where my celly kept refusing to clean the cell...
If I wasn't caught up in gang politics I would have had fewer issues, certainly. But jail, and definitely prisons on a max level, are proving grounds and I was a "prove it" type dude so I generally approached situations like I wanted the static...
You could be the cool, chill guy who doesn't bother anyone and could still run across someone who takes your desire to mind your own business as a weakness, that happens. But nah I don't think it's impossible to avoid fights, I think it just depends on how you carry yourself...
Definitely in prison though, if you're affiliating with a "core group" of guys, you're gangbanging. Whether you say you are or not. When there's an issue with someone in that core group, and people know you're thick with them, nikkas are putting you on the list too if there's an issue with one or more of those guys...
Cats who go to prison and don't try to ride with any crew, don't get involved with any of the hustles or gambling like you said, don't get involved with drugs, don't flirt with COs, don't try to get favors from COs, don't challenge nikkas (this means even staring nikkas down or nonverbal body language as much as anything physical or verbal), stay outta daily gossip and mind your own business---->guys who avoid these things will have minimal trouble...
Bit prison is an all-male high school on steroids, it's all gossip and men trying to prove to other men that they are tough!