What’s it like to go to jail?
I had made a terrible mistake and I had to spend a few years behind bars. In the beginning, I clung to my old life. I would call home every chance I got. I’d look forward to visits and letters. I’d tell my girlfriend about the people I was meeting and my mom about the food they served. I’d write letters to my friends to ask them for updates. I refused to engage with the prison politics and new social cliques that were forming around me. I’d tell myself I don’t belong here.
But hours would turn into days. And days would turn into years. My girlfriend stopped answering the phone. My friends stopped writing letters. All I really had was this new environment. And my thoughts. And my floppy don’t-kill-yourself ink pen.
If you really want to know what it’s like to go to jail, then read my story. Follow my journey to witness my perspective. Watch as I figure out how to belong. Start with Chapter 1, but heed my warning — the first chapter is a sad one. If it’s not your speed, that’s ok, but please also read Chapter 2. This one’s a little more like what the rest of the story is about. And that’s kinda the point. Going to jail for the first time is a traumatic experience, but as time goes on things get better. Relationships form with good people and the time is full of lighthearted moments of banter.
Who am I?
Before I went to jail I was a son, a boyfriend, a dog dad, an employee, and a tax payer. I had friends and hobbies. I had a schedule and a routine. But this doesn’t really answer the question does it? The truth is, I didn’t know who I was.
Who am I now? Well I’ve managed to stay out of jail for the last ten years and now I’m a writer. I tell the stories of an environment that is all too familiar to some, and completely mysterious to others.
You can call me Perceptive Prisoner.
Every week I tell a new piece of the story of my incarceration. Subscribe for free to get the next installment delivered directly to your email inbox. Or explore the archive to read everything I’ve written so far.
