cool read; thanks.

J said...
Originally published in HIGH SOCIETY magazine, August, 2003

Apparently this dude is a bit of a shithat.

plagirism is never cool.

That was written by Jim Goad after he got out of prison. http://www.jimgoad.net/nicest.html

very interesting

Perhaps wotak could entertain us with a tale from his stint in the clink?

HooooGAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!

'Perhaps wotak could entertain us with a tale from his stint in the clink?'

It's not very entertaining but I will comment.

I served 2.5 years for an armed robbery I committed when I was 18. I did 6 months in a level 4 prison there are 5 levels of security in MI:

5 - SuperMax: 23 hrs a day in a cell.

4 - Max: tight security, yard privilages, 20 hrs a day in a cell.

3 - Medium: (Gladiator Schools) They keep cells close by for discipline, but you live in groups (cubes) of 4 to 6 people. There is more fighting in these joints because the average age is 20-something and most inmates are first time violent offenders. 16 to 18 hrs a day in a cube.

2 - Minimum: This is a camp system and it for short times. You live in a cell but you have a key. Some camps require you to earn a private cell with good behavior. You start out in an barracks with 50 to 75 inmates in bunk-beds. You have to have a job and it's easy time. (if any time is easy) maybe 12 to 16 hrs of actual lock-down per day.

1 - Community centers and work release programs. You live in a house that is in, or near your facility and are monitored by prison guards. You must get a job and pay rent. You are on parole and your goal is unsupervised release (monthly parole visits sometimes with a tether).

Anyway, I served 6 months in a level 4, one year in a level 3 and one year in a level 2. I paroled and was granted 3 months in a level 1 before being released on a 5 year parole.

During my time in prison I learned that the people that get fucked in prison are the people that want to get fucked in prison.

Fighting, on the other hand, happens in all of them - all the time. You'll either learn to fight or you won't own anything. Especially in the medium security joints.

Prison is just like living in a big city except there are way more rules, you have no rights and there are a lot more people you would rather not speak to. Plus you need to have enough balls to be ready to throw hands when someone wants to prove something. You can't walk away from a fight in prison. Win or lose, doesn't matter. Walk away and you're an instant outcast. You don't want that in prison. It's already a lonely fucking place to be.

That said; it's not the rapefest Hollywood wants you to believe it is.

Do you think prison 'reformed' you or did you just straighten up?

'Do you think prison 'reformed' you or did you just straighten up?'

Good question.

Both. It was a harsh lesson and the first that actually taught me that consequences for REALLY shitty actions are truly shittier. I learned that there is a scale for fuckups and it's regulated on a curve. You do not want to be at the top of that curve.

I was a drunk 18 year old kid that made a huge error. I regret it to this day, more for the fear I caused an innocent person than the time I served.

Yes prison reformed me, but only because I used a lot of that time to think and I went along with the program. Many don't do either.

Yes prison straightened me up because it made me earn back all the freedoms I had always taken for granted.

I was hoping for something along the lines of the time that the skinner got his eyes gouged out with a spork right in the middle of the mess hall. You know, good shit.