Prison and Boxes of Chocolates

I worked my legs out so hard the other day it took two days for them to get sore and boy were they sore this morning!!! I felt some of this soreness yesterday but had a very good workout. Early this morning I woke up and had difficulty getting my legs on the floor. I have mentioned this in the past but it bears repeating; I like muscle soreness from working out. I do ascribe to the “no pain no gain” concept. (I guess I prescribe to this in other areas of my being!) I like when I get sore even when I have difficulty walking.

There is a very funny story behind leg muscle soreness but it is a bit crude so please consider yourself warned!! When my legs and gluteus maximus are sore it makes going to the bathroom a little challenging. It isn’t the “going” part it is the sitting down and getting up part. Sitting down is alright but getting up requires much effort. I remember having a conversation with my roommate about this particular subject and he suffered from the same “challenges”. I did have these challenges this morning and decided to stay in bed instead of going to workout. My body needed the rest because the muscle soreness has released a bit but I can still feel it in my legs some 12 plus hours later.

I took my time this morning but had to get into work earlier then normal. I needed to do a few things before I went to my required/mandate parole orientation meeting. The acronym for this is PACT and I have no idea where the A C T comes from, the P is obviously Parolee. This is a meeting every parolee must attend and those who do not attend are in direct violation of their parole. In my quest to do everything correctly and above board I drove the 25 miles north to the meeting. The meeting was in a less then desirable neighborhood but then again it was a parolee meeting.

I drove up and saw about 30 different people milling about outside the venue. I immediately thought I was back in prison. I need to take a few steps back at this point because this meeting was weighing heavily on my mind. Last night I had a dream I was back in prison. I have no idea what caused me to go back in prison but I was there. As if this weren’t odd enough I was in prison with a good friend from GA. All I remember is seeing him and wondering how he was there with me. This dear friend had the same great attitude he always has and I was comforted with his attitude. Thankfully I woke up and realized it was only a dream.

The “system” has a way of psyching people out with all the rhetoric but I guess it is effective. I have heard the statistics that 70% of all inmates come back within three years to serve multiple terms. I have also heard how difficult parole can be. I do think these factors have crept into my subconscious but I do know as long as I keep doing what I have been doing for the past three years I will be one of the 30% that make it.

My expectations were fairly low for the meeting today but my mind was open. We all filed into the meeting and sadly there were some empty chairs which meant a few parolees thought it in their best interest to do something else. This was not a very good idea because they have already violated their parole within 30 days of their release. (Every parolee must report to one of these meetings upon their release and the meetings are held once a month.) I looked around the room and there weren’t any familiar faces but the faces were very familiar.

The meeting was more of a pep rally then anything else and I was very impressed with the people who were in charge. I never got the feeling that the overall “system” really cared if a person made it through the prison system and I half expected this attitude today since it is all part of the same system. I was pleasantly surprised because there was a level of caring I hadn’t witnessed before. It really does take one person to make a difference and today that one person did make a difference. I listened and I was moved with the real life winning stories. People can make it and I do hope everyone there at least does their very best.

We were asked if anyone had a job and two hands went up; mine and another person. In a room of 100 people this is not a good statistic. Of course it is early for most people and the purpose of the meeting was to give the people without a job some direction. There were outside vendors at the meeting and most of them were either drug/alcohol rehabilitation centers or Christian fellowships. There was a lone representative from a technical school. I did hear one person say that the Parole Agents are mandated to release everyone (with the exception of violent offenders) from parole in 13 months. I had known this but hearing it from a reliable source made me feel better.

The meeting only lasted a little over an hour and each parolee was given a food basket. I am not talking a box lunch I am talking a food along with health and beauty items in a very large banana box. I was flabbergasted to see all the products in the box from Listerine to Kleenex. There were even three boxes of Gertrude Hawks Chocolates. Who knew I could go to prison, get released and receive boxes of chocolates!!! Heck, if I had known this I would have gone years ago!!! Of course I am being funny (or at least trying!!) but the thought was very nice especially with Easter coming very quickly. I took my box and headed back to the office with a smile on my face.