Fortunately, I did not reside in this place too long. Easter weekend, three days of not being happy. I may have mentioned in a different thread, that when I was young I was a "bad boy" and I found myself being faced with the possibility of spending my life in jail! Twenty years to life according to my attorney. Not too nice to hear when you recently turned 21. In time, I was found not guilty, and although the processing ADA and arresting police officers were not pleased, I have nothing against them, in fact, if it were not for this terrible experience, I probably would have been dead many years ago. El Segundo Jail! A brand new facility. I was ushered in with handcuffs and booked, fingerprinted, a nice photo - long hair, full beard and a t-shirt proclaiming that "Things Go Better With Pot!" After booking I was led downstairs to the jail area. My friends who were with me were put into cells, but the lead officer, yelled, "Give this &%&&%$ jail clothes." I am only 5'8" but the overalls I was given could have taken care of a seven foot giant. It must have taken me 15 minutes to roll up the cuffs. Then I was given a pair of paper slippers which lasted about 8 or 9 steps. And then, into my cell. It was new, but still not exactly what I would call home. To wash or have a drink of water, you had to stretch your left hand about four feet to a button on the wall and then water would trickle into a sink. The cage enclosed light bulb never went out. Time was only a thought. As there was no kitchen in this facility, we were given KFC but I had to trade my chicken for toilet paper. I was left with the cole slaw and a roll. Three days later, I was transferred to a big jail in Inglewood for my arraignment and to bail out. I have seen action in war, but I have never been so scared in my life. There were about 40 of us stuck in one smelly and dirty cell. These were big and ugly thugs! I managed to find somebody who was about my age and looked decent. We exchanged info about why we were arrested, and he just said, like it was an everyday occurrence, "I killed my wife last night." That was my one and only time in jail.
I can't manage anything quite that scary, but I spent a very uncomfortable and mosquito-bitten night in a gaol in Eritrea when I worked in that country as a volunteer. Not that I'd done anything wrong, though the police thought I had. Luckily, it all got sorted out the next day, but I had 24 hours of mental discomfort to get through. On the bright side, the adventure provided me with an entire chapter for my book.
In between my parents breaking up and getting back together over and over, I spent the time in foster care. One or the other of my parents would take my brother whenever they parted, but not me, and neither of them wanted to hear about what was going on in those homes. When I was eleven, I was in a particularly bad foster home, so I decided to go to Ohio. ( I liked the way it sounded, and it was very far from Houston, Texas. ). So I started out around 4:00pm., and around 9:00pm., I was walking in downtown Houston when I realized how long it was going to take me just to get out of the city, much less all the way to Ohio. When I came across a black car that was running, with the door ajar, I got in and drove off. I had been driving a tractor and a boat for over a year, so I new how to operate a standard transmission. I got all the way to Okeama (sp) Oklahoma before I was caught. I think they were as shocked by the sight of me, as we were all to learn that the car belonged to a Houston policeman. Opppps! So they "booked" me as 5'7", with blonde hair, and blue eyes, and the jailer's wife brought me my first fast food burger, and some really pretty clothes to wear. Of course my parents changed my attitude after they got me back home, and put me back in foster care. But that was my only brush with the law.
The benefit I received was to put that old cliche in action, "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime!" That was 48 years ago and I have not been back!
@Richard Paradon, after my excursion to Oklahoma, the authorities decided to put me back in foster care, but a new one with a new school. I was not charged with a crime, but I did get a policeman that had to escort me everywhere I went, and he had to set in a chair behind me. This went on for two weeks. I always wondered what he did to get that chore. I too got the message. I've never had a ticket, accident, or ever really been arrested. I've even been bonded for three different jobs.
@Ina I. Wonder Some of us learn and some of us don't. Living my life as a free person is something that I would never give up!
Damn, those three days must've been hell! I'm glad it turned out to be fine for you in the end, though. I don't think that you can rehabilitate after a long period in jail, and surely you would've ruined your life!
Thank you for sharing your stories with us. I have never been to jail, but I know people who have and it is a bad experience for all. Members of my family were in jail, one went back time and again. I have visited people in jail and it is no fun serving a sentence. I am real glad that lessons were learned and that no-one had an extended sentence. That would be sad, since you have shared special memories here.