How to Get Along With Your Cellmate in Prison

Arnold Barnes explains that having a good cellmate can make all the difference between doing smooth time and hard time, as living with someone behind bars requires patience, hygiene, and respect.

Living With Different Types of Cellmates

You’ll very likely be made cellmates with everyone from saints to sinners. They may differ in race and religion or in education and sexual preference. They may be from your own neighborhood or a different country. You may even get one that speaks an entirely different language. Whether you’re housed with the Bag Lady or Mr. Clean, you’re going to have to learn to live harmoniously with this person.

Humans have an innate need for privacy, and being mindful of others’ cell time is required for smooth relations. Each cellmate you receive will rest at different poles of the me time/cell time spectrum. Take me, for instance. I’m a cell rat who can’t stand seeing my celly walk up to the cell door, looking to come in. I’d rather read, write, and exercise in my cell alone, only to come out for chow and showers. At the opposite pole of the cell rats are the day roomers (the best cellmates). They’ll stay in the day room at all times, day and night, even sleeping on the benches like a hobo—anything but that cell. You must find a balance with each one, knowing that if one of you is frustrated about not getting any cell time, the tension will become felt in the cell.

Respect and Cleanliness Go a Long Way

You’ll avoid tension and much unwanted confrontation with your cellmate if you just clean up after yourself (an uncommon idea where you’re going, unfortunately). If you shave in the sink, clean the sink and hair out when done. Spill a drink, wipe it up. If you spread (cook) on the table, clean up afterwards. I’d hate for your celly to come in after you’ve eaten and set their legal work down in ketchup you didn’t clean.

If you have a cellmate who gets up early or works third shift and sleeps in the daytime, don’t yell out the door to get people’s attention, but instead wave a sheet of paper (magazine, etc.) outside it. Don’t talk loudly or permit others to do so at your door while your cellmate is sleeping. And if you just have to eat a soup in the middle of the night, you can wrap the soup in a towel or shirt, then crush it up.

Hygiene and Shared Space Etiquette

Take care of your hygiene, because body odor can be offensive. And start flushing farts instead of recklessly passing gas on your cellmate. Just sit on the toilet (wearing pants) and repeatedly flush the toilet. Sitting on it creates a vacuum, and trust me, it helps.

The toilet can also act as a laundry machine. After cleaning thoroughly, take a rag and dip it repeatedly in and out of the toilet drain until the water recedes. You can use a pair of socks to stuff into the drain (but not too far) to stop up the toilet. When doing your rinse cycle, remember to unplug the toilet before you flush it.

Taking a shower every day is a luxury you won’t get in prison. The sink also serves as your replacement shower/bath for lockdowns, etc. Put up a sheet (partition) and don’t worry about getting the concrete floor wet. Just clean up when you’re done.

Be Independent and Respect Your Cellmate’s Boundaries

Make sure to get your appliances (hot pot, fan, etc.), as your cellmate will get tired of you asking to use theirs. Follow these few pointers, and your first celly will not only think you’ve been doing time but will be telling people in the day room how happy they are to have a convict for a cellmate.

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