This morning our TOAD group addressed a group of high school students from Taft High School. The 70 students were from the junior and senior class and did not appear to be troubled youth. What struck me was the number of students who had a family member or friend who served time in prison. Nearly every person raised a hand when I asked.
My wife and I graduated from Shorecrest High School in 1982. The world has changed considerably since then, as neither of us knew a single person who had gone to prison. None of our friends knew anyone who had gone to prison either. Now, it seems, prison has become a normal and accepted part of American life. I would think the mass imprisonment in our country would repulse most Americans. That may show how out-of-touch I’ve become over the years.
I don’t think this imprisonment trend will continue. Our country incarcerates 2.3 million people now. Reports show more than 1 in every 100 of American citizens are locked in a prison.
Our presentation went well, though I don’t like a portion at the end when the TOAD participants rant about various aspects of prison. To my ears, the group sound like a bunch of whiners, complaining about food, living conditions, control. It’s one thing to describe, quite another to whine like petulant children.
In the afternoon the mail delivery brought my envelope from Carole. It included three copies of my sample chapter that Carole had our friend Josh type. I read through the chapter and realized that I would have to invest more hours to strengthen the prose.
The writing process begins for me in this way. I draft the docunment in longhand and rewrite a few times before I send it home for typing. By the time it returns to me, at least two weeks pass. Stepping away from the chapter for that time allows me to review it with a fresh perpsective. When I read the work this afternoon, I was not pleased with the way I had written the story. I shared it with Rafael, another prisoner. He praised it, though I suspect he liked it because he could identify with the descriptions of confinement. I’m intending to write this book for a broader audience, so I must work through each sentence and paragraph again.
I’m easing up on my weekly running total to give my body a rest. Today I stopped the run after three miles and I’m not following with any strength training. My tally now stands at 1,223 miles over the past 139 days. Carole said that I need some Gatorade to replenish my electrolytes after sweating through daily exercise sessions. I’ll purchase some next week.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
PDF 
