SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2009
Reading From Federal Prison
It's 3:45 AM. on Sunday, January 11, 2009.
For several months the fire alarms at Taft Camp have not functioned properly. The alarm rings at least once a night and usually between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 5:00 A.M. The concern amongst the inmates is not the noise, but the duration of the noise. If the alarm rings for more than two consecutive minutes, regardless of the hour, the entire compound is forced to evacuate and wait outside. That was the case this morning. Since I'm up, I figured I'd knock out my daily blog post.
I've written repeatedly that some men don't adjust to prison in myriad ways. They immerse themselves in table and card games or reality television. While reading last evening, I overheard three inmates debate - for an hour and a half - which Kardashian sister is the hottest. When the debate concluded, another inmate rendered the discussion useless because their mother was not included. They started over.
Along with writing and exercise, my prison adjustment has centered around reading. Since arriving at Taft Camp, back in April 2008, I've read approximately 75 books. Some of the books were just a hundred pages or so, like Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, while a few have approached 1,000 pages, such as Thackeray's Vanity Fair. Prison has helped remind me how healthy and liberating reading can be.
As a child, teenager and student athlete, I read frequently. That all changed when I entered the cut throat world of money management. My sole focus became earning an income that would support the lifestyle I had always imagined. I no longer had hobbies nor did I read, write or exercise. I felt the time had come to get paid and everything else could and would wait.
As an executive, I spent my evenings watching television or playing online chess games. The days of challenging my mind with something other than a client's stock portfolio had ceased. Ironically, it was not until I came to prison that I realized where I had gone wrong. Rather than constantly focusing on the bad decisions I made that led me into troubles with the law, l'm using a portion of my time for introspection.
Renewing my passion for reading wasn't something I expected to happen when my prison term began.
Justin Paperny
