Felons – Reality vs. Fiction

Hey everyone. Sometimes I catch something on television or see something online about prison or prisoners, and I have to laugh at the stereotypes that persist about us felons.

Today I saw a thing on the internet news about a recently released prisoner coming to the rescue of a little girl that had fallen into a septic tank and was drowning. Now that is cool whether the guy is an ex-con or not. But what is troubling is that this was reported under “Odd News”. Like, it’s ODD that a man who has a record would help someone. Here is the article: Man, two weeks out of prison, helps rescue 2-year-old girl

If you take a minute to read that article you will find that first of all, just like me, the guy was incarcerated for a drug felony. He’s been out two weeks and he is trying to keep it together. I understand and I wish him well. But they make it sound like he gained these morals in prison that led him to save the little girl.

I am pretty sure he would have jumped in and saved her before he went to prison too, really. People who screw up and go to prison, for non-victim crimes like drug use, or even for things where there was a victim of some sort are not necessarily evil, immoral people. Let me tell you, there are a bunch of bad people in prison, no doubt. But there are a bunch of inmates who are not bad people at all, right along side the bad ones. A whole lot of them love their families, treat people right, go to work regularly, pay their bills, and so on. They screwed up. Plain and simple. Maybe they got angry and got in an altercation that resulted in someone seriously hurt. Maybe they got desperate and stole something. Maybe they got hammered and drove a car and wrecked. None of those are acceptable things in our society, and the result if you get caught is you are punished with prison. And now they are pitched into a seriously crappy environment and invited to reflect on their screw ups for a year or two or five or ten.

The point is, this is a good article about a little girl getting saved. And, it’s great the guy is out of prison and had a chance to do a good deed. I bet he feels GREAT he was there at the right time and place, even if he did get a mouth full of sewer water. I know I would have been so glad to save that little girl too. When you are in prison you think about those things, about doing the right thing, and making a difference somehow once you get out. You want to redeem the screwed up period of your life when you are sitting in prison like a dumb-ass. And he was able to do that in a big way, that is cool. But the point of him being a recently released felon is really irrelevant to the story in my opinion.

Did you know in the U.S.A. we incarcerate more people than anyplace else on the planet? I don’t often get on a soapbox on this blog. It is what it is, and I accept my time in prison was due to my screw up, plain and simple. But being a felon is becoming a little too common if you ask me. Maybe it’s time for a change in the way we approach things like drug abuse and in the way we treat those who have spent time in prison and are now rebuilding their lives. Just saying. What do you all think? Peace out, till next time ~ Magnum