This thing is on, right?
Hi, everyone.
It's an interesting place to be, behind a massive amount of concertina wire, fences, walls, and under lock and key.
There are some who know me under other names, and have wandered this direction at the behest of that name.
Then there are also new readers, which you might also be. Hi, in any case. :)
I'm a person who is, in a nutshell, a gender non-conforming person of color, born in the pus pocket of the United States (Florida gets all the runoff from states north). Until I ended up in my current situation, I lived in the beautiful state of Oregon for three quarters of a decade, where I enjoyed what I did for a living. Miles upon miles of beautiful walking and cycling paths covered the city I want to call home again once I make it through this situation.
I'm not at liberty to discuss my case in a public venue at this point -- my friends (significantly more family than the ones I share blood with, just saying) are trying to find someone with a way to help with the railroading I suffered at the hands of the legal system here.
A thought, I label gently, reads:
The American Prison system is designed to be as much of a fiduciary drain on as many entities as they can suck dry. This means family and friends on the outside, taxpayers in the cities and states where these facilities lie, among other places.
When compared to other civilized countries, and to the works done in facilities like this or those which lead up to places like this, the work to tackle the worry of issues like recividism just doesn't seem to be seen in American facilities.
Granted, this thought is Florida colored -- prior to this, I hadn't even so much seen the inside of a jail cell in person until I had lived for four decades.
Another thought bubbles up. I slather it with jelly, and donate it to the shrine of thought:
Would it not make more sense to give inmates an option to complete tasks to earn at least a bit of money in prison, given the currently monumental price gouging that goes on inside facilities like these here in this state?
To wit, a 113g (4 oz) sleeve of saltine crackers costs $1.17.
A free worlder like yourself can walk into any number of stores, and for not much more than that, walk out with two to four sleeves of the same crackers, same weight, and such. When I was last out, a four pack of a no-name brand of saltines were available at the Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1.25.
(Yes, I got to experience the price hike before going down!)
A tin of various kinds of fish filets, again, around 113g (4 oz) can be had for $1.25 in the free world; tuna in the free world, around the same weight, about $1.
We're paying $2-$4 for the same amount of fish, but packaged in a tearable pouch.
Aesthetics minute:
I might have a reader who knows something about prison aesthetic. Most things given to inmates are safety/security modified to a ridiculous degree. A pack of ramen noodles (73 cents) is security modified -- the packaging is made as translucent as possible. Even the flavoring packets are numbered and clear plastic, so we can tell that that's a packet of flavor number 3: chicken.
In other 'camps' I've stayed at so far, bags of potato chips and Doritos are also security modified -- clear plastic for the bulk of the packaging, so you can see the chips inside.
Radios and tablets (we have tablets in prison, but there's a joke coming) are clad in translucent plastic, maybe slightly cloudy.
Why?
Because human ingenuity in the face of scarcity is a hell of a drug, folks. People can and will craft tools to serve their needs when they have been denied access to them through nominal channels. Need a needle to stitch up a shirt that you've had purchased through the apparel offers they make to you? Prison's just not going to loan you one, and they're not going to fix that article of clothing -- Buy a new one is the mantra they chant.
You figure out how to craft a needle, and then you put it away somewhere safe.
The abundant translucency is meant to make it difficult to store tools of that nature (or larger), enabling correctional officers to locate, confiscate, and discipline actions of that nature. Screw ingenuity, screw filling in a need. You're to do pills, lay supine, as ordered.
All that, to say that if I had a way to earn a buck or ten, I wouldn't feel so beholden to the outside world. This would go a long way to help inmates that are here on the inside learn self-sufficiency skills that benefit them once they are allowed to go free.
Instead, what we earn is gain time -- up to 10 days off our sentence per month, but the total accrued gain time shall never take us below a whopping 85% of our sentence before they allow us out on conditional release.
That means we're a burden on taxpayers, family, friends, and acquaintances for a much longer time in this state than in just about every other state in the union here, and we're not even productive burdens.
I wrap with this thought:
Imagine visiting your local farmer's market, and someone is selling beautifully made, decorative planters made of concrete.
You heft the corner of one, and it's so much lighter than you expected.
"It's made of aircrete, madamsir, and your purchase goes to support and further our horticulture program at Prisonia State Prison."
I would, were I free, consider the purchase -- inmates, doing something with their time? I can buy that.
Be loved, folks, and take care. :)