Prisoner Fears Consequences of His Prison Behavior

"It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt."

I'm not sure where that saying originated, but it couldn't be more true than in prison. Prison is not a playground in any way, despite society's perception that we're in here just playing games all day. Yes, we can play chess, checkers, cards, or other games, and some do more than others. But prison is also not a place to just let loose and have fun. 

Some prisoners have not learned this important lesson, and they play too much. They joke around, play around, aren't serious when they need to be...and it comes back to bite them. They joke with the wrong person and get punched, or they treat rules like they don't apply to them and get punished. 

This weekend, I heard a prisoner who is in segregation bemoaning his lot. He is in the "hole" pending transfer to a higher security level. He's not a dangerous prisoner, but he doesn't think the rules apply to him. He earns a misconduct but refuses to do his sanctions (loss of privileges, including yard time). As a result, he earns another ticket for violating his sanctions. He continues this cycle, over and over, stacking up misconducts, all for small infractions. But his intractability became a problem for staff. 

Now, this prisoner is about to ship out to a level four prison, where the daily dangers he will face, especially as a skinny, young white guy, will multiply exponentially. Yet, he's trying to convince himself that if he just "mean mugs" other prisoners (acts tough), they'll leave him alone. Sadly, he's in for a rude awakening. 

The reality is that this prisoner is likely to draw more attention to himself by acting tough, but he has already proven he doesn't have the social awareness or maturity to know how to navigate prison. What translates now into lack of concern for prison rules will show up as lack of concern for his bunkie and prisoner-enforced "rules." Misconduct tickets will be the least of his concern. 

Unfortunately, some prisoners require a significant wake up call to begin changing their behavior. For some of us, simply coming to prison was enough of a wake up call. The shock of loss and separation from all we love jolted us into changing our direction. Others, like this young prisoner, require a bit more persuasion. 

I wish that I had listened to the many warning signs and corrections God was giving me so I didn't end up in prison, but apparently I was as hard-headed as this young prisoner. I'm grateful that God has not removed His grace from my life but has, instead, turned me away from my foolishness and pointed me in the right direction. Life is too precious to waste, locked away from those I love.