MY FEELINGS AFTER BEING EMPLOYED

                   I was always afraid of everything, especially of things which were new or unusual. Then I found myself in prison. At the beginning it was very difficult for me, I couldn’t get used to the life so I asked someone from the staff to find me work. I wanted to have as little time for thinking as possible. After I had been waiting for some time I found out that I would be working in the administrative part of the prison. This was the next shock – how was I supposed to go there? What would I be doing? How would the other prison workers react to my presence?

          The day came and I went there, together with my friends, to start work as a cleaner. We started by washing the corridors, so I thought this would be the only thing for us to do, but it turned out that we would also have to clean the offices. How to get there? What to do so that I would not look like a prisoner?

My first disappointment was being asked to clean the Governor’s office and the Secretary’s office. However, the staff in these rooms greeted me with a smile and told me what to do, and even helped me to do my work. When I went out to the corridor I met a lot of employees who were also very nice to me. I was a little bit surprised, but it was them who started our conversations. I also tried to be nice and greeted them as often as I could.

          I came to the conclusion that there is no big difference between being treated as a normal person and as a prisoner. They made me think that there was still hope for me, that when I am discharged, I will be able to start a new job, not thinking that I have the visible genes of a prisoner. The people I met in  prison administration confirmed that if you are respectful, mean well, and smile, it is worth living and trying to function in society.

I am very grateful to them, because they made me believe in myself and, when I leave the prison, I will think more of myself again, just as I did before I was sentenced.

Anonymous

                                                                                         (Rzeszow, Poland)