Prison Stuff
by adustyframe ~ November 17th, 2008I was reading a news blog and on a post about a missing child, it was shared what the child’s mother bought from canteen at the jail. (And just why exactly does the media care what someone bought from the canteen in jail? And who supplied this info to the media? weird!)
One item purchased was a security toothbrush. The discussion that followed was all about what is a security toothbrush?
So I asked my resident (alright he’s not quite a resident although I wish he were!) expert. He said a security toothbrush is a rubber thing with bristles that fits over your finger. There is no handle because it could be sharpened and used to “shank” people. It could also be melted and used for any number of things.
Lee said that you can have a regular toothbrush unless you are in “the hole” (solitary confinement) or if you’re in a maximum security area.
So there you have it. Didn’t you want a wrinkle on you brain with that info?
On another prison note, when I was at the retreat last weekend, I sat with a friend and her friends. They were talking about a dangerous situation in their town that had recently occurred.
One of them said, “At work we were saying that they should have sent a prison inmate in there to take care of it.” Followed by much laughter.
I KNOW that she didn’t know about Lee. I also know that people in general think incarcerated individuals are slightly less human than scum.
It’s just difficult knowing that people would gladly send my husband into a dangerous situation and laugh about it if they could. 
November 17th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
November 17th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I think we all have a tendency to de-humanize those not in our circle. It has happened with race, with religion, with socio-economic classes…many people have never met a “prison inmate”, they are really referring to a charicature not a real person.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:39 am
Very interesting about the toothbrush. It’s amazing what they can find to talk about on the news.
People don’t realize a lot of times how offensive some things are that they say, all they know is their little corner of the world and they only see things from their perspective.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Your blog and your openness in sharing has opened my eyes to the plight of a lot of families who have been separated because of prison. I choose my words more carefully now, thanks to you.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I will joke about my husband’s condition (mental) and with him about it but do not want others to joke about it as they have never been there and would not know the humorous side of it, only the making fun side of it. When people joke , it is usually with general understanding of a type and not with knowledge of an individual.
When I started going through a particular trial I could only think of one promise out of all the promises of the Bible and I will leave it with you. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5 Jesus is all we will ever need.
Thank you for sharing your story and the verses!
January 27th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
It is so sad… people do think of prisoners as less than human… and sometimes I think when people find out, they think there’s something wrong with me, too. Before all this, he was a Marine and corrections officer, but people forget that you were ever a good citizen pretty quickly, once you’re incarcerated.