4 ms·

This list is OK, but I think there's a major omission: be ready to fight. If you are ever probed for weakness, you must make it clear that you will not be easy

by b6 10y ago

This list is OK, but I think there's a major omission: be ready to fight. If you are ever probed for weakness, you must make it clear that you will not be easy to victimize. You don't have to win, but you have to fight and make it as difficult as you can. It doesn't matter at all what the fight is over. Someone took a scoop of your mashed potatoes? Fight them. Make them regret it as much as you can. I feel so sorry for anyone who goes into prison who does not understand this.

giarc 10y ago
Is this from your own experience or just what you believe to be true? I'm not trying to be rude, but that piece of advice holds much more weight coming from someone that has actually served time.
- b6 10y ago
  It's not rude. You're absolutely right. Somehow, despite my best efforts, I never went to prison. But I was obsessed about the possibility for a while, and read a lot of books. The one that made the biggest impression on me was _The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison_. In that book, a lifer named Carl Bowles describes why he doesn't have to worry very much, despite being small (like me). Paraphrasing, it was because he never let there be any doubt in anyone's mind that if they tried to hurt him, he'd respond very violently. That book described in many different ways the importance of willingness to fight in prison. People due for release in a few months would fight and get time added to their sentences for fear of what would happen if they didn't fight.
- strathmeyer 10y ago
  Was held overnight in a cell with a prostitute dressed as a woman and all the other inmates tried to get us to have sex with him. It's not a fun time.
llamataboot 10y ago
I have a friend who served 5 years for some chronic reckless DUIs before he got sober. He is, quite literally, one of the most gentle souls I've ever met. He's a pretty small guy, but tough as nails (still works 12+ hours a day running his own construction company doing manual labor) After about 30 days in, he was on the phone when a guy come up to him and started poking him in the back, "Come on man, get off the phone." And started to get more aggressive, "Fuck you, fucker, get off the fucking phone", tapping him more insistently, spitting on him, etc. He turned around and realized about 30 people were watching the interaction. He calmly said, "Don't ever fucking touch me while I'm on the phone" and then proceeded to crack open the guy's head with the phone receiver and break his jaw with it. Got some time added to his sentence, but no one ever fucked with him from that day forward. He said that he regrets greatly that he had to hurt the guy so bad, but he is 100% convinced that if he let such behavior pass without violent retaliation, his life would have been made a living hell from that day on. His advice, paraphrased, "No matter what you do there will be a moment where you have to show weakness or strength. If you show weakness, you will be tagged as weak and nothing you do from then out will change that. It will be a terrible moment, but if you show overwhelming force and violence in that moment, the rest of your days will be able to be peaceful." Prison is terrifying (and unneccesary).
feklar 10y ago
Indeed, you don't have to win any fights in prison you just have to be willing to fight. This is usually instigated by The Punk Test, where somebody will try to incrementally take advantage of you, by either saying something and seeing if you let it slide, then later bumping into you, finally taking your stuff, ect. If you don't fight typically you will be kicked out of that unit and forced to go to another, where your reputation will of course travel with you and they will make your life hell there as well. Article could have said something about how to avoid needless fights (prob in the book I assume). For example, being in the yard and some guy is looking to start a fight. "What are you looking at?" of course, the wrong answer is "Nothing" as the reply will be "So I'm nothing goof?". The right answer is "Sun in my eyes, no disrespect". You both walk away as respect is maintained and dude trying to bait you into a fight figures out you aren't an easy mark and goes to harass somebody else. There is also a saying "Do your own time not somebody elses". This means somebody approaches you and says "Hey, do you know what <insert name> said about you?". This guy is trying to get you to fight somebody for him. Your answer can only be "Let him say that to my face" and leave it at that. In general you never talk about other inmates when they are not around, part of the whole mind your own business mantra of prison. Never go to the TV area if one exists. Fights always happen here over who gets to watch what, and often set ups happen where one group of inmates will be attacked by a rival group and you don't want to be caught in the middle while it all kicks off. Finally, do not complain about the food or anything else out loud, or ever tell anybody when you are getting released. Guys who brag how they only have a few months left or are getting out the next week will have some guy who's doing decades or life immediately smash them because they don't want to be reminded of how much time they have. There will also be guys who simply want to mess with your release date and try to cause trouble because they can. If you want to impress your fellow inmates, screw the system as much as possible like demanding a Kosher meal (often it's better quality food), orchestrating transfers, finding ways to weasel out of bad work detail. Anything you can figure out that gets one over on the system is respected. tl;dr generally prison is not hollywood unless you're in a gang or owe money to drug dealers. For the most part you will just be doing time and bored stiff so get somebody to mail you TAOCP to do by hand, I wish I had that instead of the dismal prison library. Keep eyes forward, look at people's hands who are approaching you not their eyes.
- 10y ago
nailer 10y ago
> be ready to fight. If you are ever probed for weakness, you must make it clear that you will not be easy to victimize. This reminds me of Marcellin College, the boy's high school I went to for a couple of years in Australia.

by b6 10y ago

giarc 10y ago

Is this from your own experience or just what you believe to be true? I'm not trying to be rude, but that piece of advice holds much more weight coming from someone that has actually served time.

b6 10y ago
It's not rude. You're absolutely right. Somehow, despite my best efforts, I never went to prison. But I was obsessed about the possibility for a while, and read a lot of books. The one that made the biggest impression on me was _The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison_. In that book, a lifer named Carl Bowles describes why he doesn't have to worry very much, despite being small (like me). Paraphrasing, it was because he never let there be any doubt in anyone's mind that if they tried to hurt him, he'd respond very violently. That book described in many different ways the importance of willingness to fight in prison. People due for release in a few months would fight and get time added to their sentences for fear of what would happen if they didn't fight.
strathmeyer 10y ago
Was held overnight in a cell with a prostitute dressed as a woman and all the other inmates tried to get us to have sex with him. It's not a fun time.

llamataboot 10y ago

I have a friend who served 5 years for some chronic reckless DUIs before he got sober. He is, quite literally, one of the most gentle souls I've ever met. He's a pretty small guy, but tough as nails (still works 12+ hours a day running his own construction company doing manual labor) After about 30 days in, he was on the phone when a guy come up to him and started poking him in the back, "Come on man, get off the phone." And started to get more aggressive, "Fuck you, fucker, get off the fucking phone", tapping him more insistently, spitting on him, etc. He turned around and realized about 30 people were watching the interaction. He calmly said, "Don't ever fucking touch me while I'm on the phone" and then proceeded to crack open the guy's head with the phone receiver and break his jaw with it. Got some time added to his sentence, but no one ever fucked with him from that day forward. He said that he regrets greatly that he had to hurt the guy so bad, but he is 100% convinced that if he let such behavior pass without violent retaliation, his life would have been made a living hell from that day on. His advice, paraphrased, "No matter what you do there will be a moment where you have to show weakness or strength. If you show weakness, you will be tagged as weak and nothing you do from then out will change that. It will be a terrible moment, but if you show overwhelming force and violence in that moment, the rest of your days will be able to be peaceful." Prison is terrifying (and unneccesary).

feklar 10y ago

Indeed, you don't have to win any fights in prison you just have to be willing to fight. This is usually instigated by The Punk Test, where somebody will try to incrementally take advantage of you, by either saying something and seeing if you let it slide, then later bumping into you, finally taking your stuff, ect. If you don't fight typically you will be kicked out of that unit and forced to go to another, where your reputation will of course travel with you and they will make your life hell there as well. Article could have said something about how to avoid needless fights (prob in the book I assume). For example, being in the yard and some guy is looking to start a fight. "What are you looking at?" of course, the wrong answer is "Nothing" as the reply will be "So I'm nothing goof?". The right answer is "Sun in my eyes, no disrespect". You both walk away as respect is maintained and dude trying to bait you into a fight figures out you aren't an easy mark and goes to harass somebody else. There is also a saying "Do your own time not somebody elses". This means somebody approaches you and says "Hey, do you know what <insert name> said about you?". This guy is trying to get you to fight somebody for him. Your answer can only be "Let him say that to my face" and leave it at that. In general you never talk about other inmates when they are not around, part of the whole mind your own business mantra of prison. Never go to the TV area if one exists. Fights always happen here over who gets to watch what, and often set ups happen where one group of inmates will be attacked by a rival group and you don't want to be caught in the middle while it all kicks off. Finally, do not complain about the food or anything else out loud, or ever tell anybody when you are getting released. Guys who brag how they only have a few months left or are getting out the next week will have some guy who's doing decades or life immediately smash them because they don't want to be reminded of how much time they have. There will also be guys who simply want to mess with your release date and try to cause trouble because they can. If you want to impress your fellow inmates, screw the system as much as possible like demanding a Kosher meal (often it's better quality food), orchestrating transfers, finding ways to weasel out of bad work detail. Anything you can figure out that gets one over on the system is respected. tl;dr generally prison is not hollywood unless you're in a gang or owe money to drug dealers. For the most part you will just be doing time and bored stiff so get somebody to mail you TAOCP to do by hand, I wish I had that instead of the dismal prison library. Keep eyes forward, look at people's hands who are approaching you not their eyes.

10y ago

nailer 10y ago

> be ready to fight. If you are ever probed for weakness, you must make it clear that you will not be easy to victimize. This reminds me of Marcellin College, the boy's high school I went to for a couple of years in Australia.