January 26, 2012
Prison Woes: The Pen Pal Cure

The only thing that I realized right away in prison is the time they refer to as "mail call", a time that nearly every inmate awaits, each and every day...

To get a letter is to be remembered, wanted among the world, and even loved in some cases. To not get mail is a very painful thing. It's seen on the face of every inmate whose name is not called. In some cases, never called.

Some turn to pen pal services in search of a friend. There's not an awful lot of people wanting to talk to an inmate. I think it's just like how it is when an inmate writes to company or a magazine. They see the prison stamp on the outside of the envelope and disregard its contents. A sad thing really, and I know it's done with a lot of my letters I mail out.

Still, to give up entirely just isn't allowed for me.

I've had ads placed on pen pal sites to no avail. In my case, it's not just the inmate situation. It's the two failed marriages that not many girls would take on, even as just a friend. A guy with five kids, two ex-wives, and—at the time of this trial—999 years to do.

Still, I think I'll assay the pen pal world. Maybe some girl in another country not programmed by the American view or this region's religious groups, and the Southern anti-absolution-you're-going-to-hell-and-I'm-not views. Everything here in America, especially Anderson, South Carolina, is just extremely hypocritical and confused. Everything is about money.

I had a lot of girls in my life, girls that I thought were good friends. But when my money flow stopped so did their want of me. Time has proven it. They can argue against it until they turn blue, the fact remains—they haven't been here for me. Granted, some may not actually know I'm here and just don't care to write. Even those I've had children with...

I don't know if this blog shows up under my name when a Google, Yahoo, or Bing search is done, but I'd like to find out. If it's not, then it needs to be. Because that would probably help my situation a lot. I'm not sure if my pen pal quest will succeed, but something in me is currently compelling me to try.