In good weather the yard looks and sounds a lot like a school playground. Groups congregate together to plot & scheme, shoot the breeze, brag about the past and dream about the future. The yard is where you go to catch up your acquaintances or accomplices from other housing units to exchange information and gossip. It is the one place where you can truly choose the mates you want to hang out with.
Tag: Prison Life
Ineffable
When writing about prison and what life is like in prison it is difficult to convey in words to someone who has not experienced it what prison is really like. It is like trying to retell a funny story that happened and the person you are telling it to just gives you a blank stare and doesn't laugh, so you finish by saying, “I guess you just had to be there.”
Penitent Man
People who commit crimes by and large are selfish people who have placed their wants and desires above the needs of others. Many are proud and unashamed of what they have done. When you fill up a prison full of these people, sparks will fly.
Go Fish
Now there is a steep learning curve for those coming to prison for the first time. Prison isn’t like the free world and it takes longer for some to figure that out. The basic principle of prison is that someone else makes all the major decisions for you. This concept if very difficult for control freaks to grasp.
Expectations
Prison is the one place where the question, “What is wrong with you?” should be asked sincerely and with the intent of receiving an answer rather than an exclamation of exasperation. From my experience, prison is short on introspection and long on intransigence.
The People I’ve Met in Prison
Mitch Album once wrote a book about people he would like to meet in heaven. Here are some of the types of people I've met in prison. You may have met some or all of them on the streets because they are no different except for the circumstances.