HARLAN RICHARDS

July 11, 2016

Pizza For Breakfast

I had pizza for breakfast yesterday and it was fantastic! For people in the real world, being able to eat what you want when you want, is generally taken for granted. In prison, eating what you don't want at a time not of your choosing, is the norm. So having a pizza Sunday morning was a great treat for me.

The SCI warden is fairly progressive and has allowed us to have some privileges previous wardens would not allow. One of those privileges is to be able to have pizzas on Sundays in the visiting room.

I have a wonderful woman in my life who visits me regularly. Once a month, she comes to see me on a Sunday morning so we can have pizza for breakfast. This time, it was pepperoni. But we have sampled all the varieties and choose a different one each time. It is a blessing to share a meal with someone I love on a regular basis. It sort of gives me some idea of what I am missing in the free world. After decades in prison, it is hard to remember what life was like before imprisonment.

Relatively few prisoners get regular visits at Stanley. I am very fortunate to have someone who is willing to come to the prison and spend time with me. It is a blessing I am thankful for every day.

After the warden authorized the sale of pizzas on Sunday visits, he allowed the program to be expanded to sell pizzas to prisoners to eat in the housing units. This gives the guys who do not get Sunday visits a chance to eat a pizza every once in a while.

The pizzas are manufactured by Clark Company, who hire developmentally disabled people to work in their factories. The prison charges extra for the pizzas and every month a different non-profit organization is given the profits from the pizza sales.

Everyone involved in the pizza sales program benefits and I am thankful we have a warden who is willing to make things better for everybody.