I listened politely as the middle-aged lawyer told me about the type of legal work they do. I knew the process he was talking about only too well. He didn’t know I knew or he might not have made the throw away comment ‘Nobody cares about inmates’.
I still remember the day so clearly. It was a mission to even make it to this day.
I arrived at the Correction facility with what I thought was plenty of time – just as the information that was sent to us said. It wasn’t! I really had no concept that I would need to queue up to present my documentation and ID. I learned the hard way that I couldn’t bring in things for my person at a visit at this correction facility (and later that other facilities have different rules around what can and cannot be brought into the facility at visits). I felt stupid taking a bag of things back to the car. I obviously stood out as being a ‘first time visitor’.
The headlines say what you may have already heard from your loved ones.
You may have had difficulty believing the stories you might have heard. It might be that you have had very little to do with prisons and cannot think that this might occur. You may also have difficulty because you know all too well that fights occur in prison and that it is best not to believe it so that you do not worry about the safety of your loved one.