Don't Steal in California!

     Last night in Crim class, we watched a movie about the prisons in Susanville CA. The idea is that they're taking over the county, supposedly providing jobs, but actually taking away business (which loses jobs) and imports products instead of buying locally. The film followed a few peoples' stories, and one in particular I found quite amazing.

     This couple (Lonnie and Jennifer) and their two sons were living in their car, and Lonnie had a job interview somewhere near Susanville. They literally had just enough money to fill the gas tank to get there. The kids were sitting in the back screaming and crying out of starvation because they hadn't been able to afford food for a few days. So they stopped in Susanville, and Lonnie went in to a depanneur (aka: variety store for all you crazy non-Quebeckers) and stole a loaf of bread, some noodles and juice, basically just a bit of food for his kids, and the groceries were worth only $28. He was caught and sent to prison for sixteen months! That's almost a year and a half. For feeding his kids by stealing $30. I feel like I have that much money in change in my couch cushions; it's basically nothing! What the crap is the big deal?! It was so depressing to hear him talk about how useless he felt when he couldn't feed his kids, and of course he was on probation for a year, and couldn't leave Susanville. Catch-22 here: all the jobs in Susanville have been wiped out because of the prison, so you're limited to prison guard or unemployed. Being an "ex-con" he isn't allowed to work in the prison. And he needs a job to support his family and be eligible for release from parole. What bullshit.

     I have a quilter's workshop on Saturday to make a Celtic table runner. I'm so excited! It's going to be my first workshop, and I am actually a little worried how I'm supposed to get all my stuff there: machine, rotary mat, fabric, iron, accessories and supplies...and I have to take the bus. I'll post a picture when I get home on Saturday. The fabric I picked is gorgeous, but so not me! I'm so excited to see how it will turn out!

Criminology Paper = Prison!

"Prison is not only a place for the incarcerated."

     Definitely. Prison takes the form of Criminology papers and is out to get me.

     Okay, I will admit that the article I am (almost) finished reading is moderately interesting. It's a 40 page story describing inch by inch the experiences of family who want to visit their incarcerated loved ones at the San Quentin prison. It really opens the eyes of yours truly; an upper-middle class young adult who really doesn't know the first thing about imprisonment (other than what I learn in my classes of course). I have come to the conclusion that while being imprisoned is no walk in the park, it sucks just as much to be the wife or child who is attempting to visit their criminal kin. Okay, lesson learned, can I go play Mario Kart now?!

     Yes, I am full aware that I am procrastinating. But somehow I got suckered in to telling my teacher that I would be finished this monstrous creation by tonight, and now I'm going back and kicking my yesterday's dumb-ass behind. I am in the frame of mind right now that it is a completely hopeless task, and I may as well give up before I waste my time trying to write a good paper; it will probably get an F anyway, seeing as it's so late.

     It doesn't help that Dublin is sitting on the chair staring at me. Taunting me is more like it. He's communicating that he may shit in a box but he can sleep and play and eat whenever he wants, and that to him, right now I look pathetic.

"Suck an elf!"

Um little insert: apparently in the UK, wives of prisoners are subject to strip searches due to increased security measures, and are considered "humiliating, especially, for example for women, who ... might be asked to remove [tampons] (Codd 2008, p. 61)". So what do the wardens say: "Um, excuse me miss, would you mind removing your tampon, I need to check your vagina to see if you're smuggling in heroin." Sexual harassment much? WTF?!!