Job Fair

Something new happened at Lunenburg yesterday.  That in itself is surprising.  The thing about prison that is most difficult to bear is the time, the monotonous rolling forward of time.  Day in and day out there are the same announcements at the same time.  Days repeat days; weeks repeat weeks.  And years?  You watch the calendar click.  It’s maddening.  You live your life almost like Bill Murray did in “Groundhog Day”.  If you’re smart, you avoid the temptation to get comfortable with the monotony.  You design your day according to your needs.  You exercise your mind – and your body – and you resist the urge to be institutionalized.  And, in spite of the drudgery, you remain – at least in your mind – free.

Every so often, however, a day comes along which reminds you the monotony can be broken.  College graduation was one such day and the joy, the freedom I felt that Friday in January has sustained me.  Yesterday was another such day.  Yesterday, the LUCC Transition teacher and his aides sponsored a job fair for approximately 100 inmates who leave in the next 90 days.

This was not your typical job fair.  For one thing the majority of employers were contractors.  Second, there was an emphasis on mini-workshops with the Virginia Employment Commission and various non-profit organizations who assist released felons with a myriad of re-entry issues.

I was asked to attend to assist our Goodwill rep who was meeting with twelve of our IT grads who leave within the next 60 days.  It was remarkable seeing these men, resumes and portfolios (of programs completed) in hand looking a potential employer in the face and answering truthfully about their crime, their incarceration and their skills.

And I learned a few things.  First, there is a national fidelity bond that is free to an employer – providing $5000 (more is available for a small premium) of coverage for employee dishonesty – who hires a convicted felon.  “Even applies to a disbarred attorney convicted of embezzlement.”

Second, a significant number of released felons may be eligible for disability payments.  Extensive periods of incarceration may cause post-traumatic stress disorder.  It seems ironic but the “system” designed to encourage responsible behavior is, in fact, one of the main causes of PTSD and anti-social behavior.  Prisons are viscous, filthy, Darwinian environments.  It should come as no surprise that they do not encourage rehabilitation but promote the opposite.

Third, there are employers willing to give ex-cons a second chance.  One recruiter with a national construction firm told me “God gave me a second chance.  How could I not do the same thing?”  A few guys with significant construction training (and licenses earned while here) were made offers.  A few more were told to “stay in touch”.  The results weren’t great, but there was hope.  And in a place like this hope sometimes is all it takes to get you through.

The job fair wasn’t like anything experienced “out there”.  Recruiters had to clear security.  Guys had to be screened to get in.  There was a two and a half hour window to get the entire program in before 11:30 count.  And, it wasn’t some DOC initiative, some project spurred on by Governor McDonnell’s “re-entry initiative”.  It was the brainchild of this institution’s transition instructor, “Mr. Nick”, a twenty-five year veteran of the DOC prison re-entry process.  Mr. Nick believes in the power of hope.  His four aides – two of whom are college students I tutor – carry out his instructions.  Their goal:  to give every exiting inmate a chance at work after release.

Prison is a terrible experience.  It goes against every human emotion and is counterproductive for changing most lawbreakers into “good citizens”.  And against that backdrop Don Quixote – like men and women still launch themselves against the windmills of hopelessness and recidivism.  They believe a man with a job, a man with an education, can succeed.

We need more job fair days, more college graduation days, more days of hope and less groundhog days.

And So It Goes

Prison time passes remarkably quickly even though each day feels like a repeat of the previous one. In many ways, you end up feeling just like Bill Murray did in “Groundhog Day”, doing the exact same thing, walking and talking with the exact same guys, same workout routine at the same time with the same guys; on and on, day in and day out it goes. As I’ve written about before, I’ve always been fairly disciplined with my schedule so monotony is something I’m comfortable with.



Even when unique events happen, you realize they’re not that out of the ordinary anyway. This week “Flo” pulled a series 100 stealing charge getting caught in a strip search with an orange from the chow hall. Series 100 charges are serious and this one, the sergeant who wrote it knows, won’t stick because taking food from the chow hall is a series 200 charge for contraband. The sergeant was just ticked off because he knew Flo had been taking stuff out of chow every day he’s been here.


Every morning at breakfast Flo carries two empty squeeze jelly containers which he fills with milk and brings back to make oatmeal and cappuccino. Every lunch, he sneaks back fresh veggies and butter from the common fare tray to add to rice dishes; every evening, fresh fruit for snacking while watching TV.


The sergeant knows he’s doing this, but couldn’t ever catch him in the act. His solution? Wait for him outside of chow the other day and then take him to the watch commander’s office to strip search him.


And Flo’s reaction? You would think he’d admit it, face up to the charge and accept a $6.00 fine (what they offered him when the orange first fell). No, he filed a complaint against the sergeant alleging the strip search constituted “sexual harassment”.


I laughed at the stupidity and arrogance of both men, but truth is, they acted exactly as I’d expect them to. The sergeant overreacting and chest thumping because of his own ineptitude and impotence to control simple pilfering; and Flo, a career criminal who wouldn’t admit he was caught even when the orange fall out from between his cheeks (“How’d that get there? It ain’t mine!”).


There’s Tony and his marital problems. Tony is in here for a long time – until 2026. He is a computer wiz and accomplished jazz musician. He also had sex with a number of his teenage daughter’s girlfriends, photographed the girls and put their photos on a number of websites. The strange thing about Tony is, you meet him and – not knowing his crime – you think “he seems like an OK guy”. Then, you see he’s hardwired into all these teen girl shows and books and you suddenly realize “this guy’s got problems”.


He and his daughter were abnormally close. When he was arrested she tried to take her own life. She got help, was hospitalized, and after three months returned home. So here’s Tony dilemma. His daughter has now been arrested for stealing a car to drive to the mall and meet a boy. She got caught – in the backseat – with the boy and is now on house arrest (ironically, the same prosecutor who handled Tony’s case also handled hers). And the wife? She’s absent most nights bar and bed hopping.


Tony’s furious with his wife’s lack of involvement in their daughter’s life. Yet, it was that lack of involvement that allowed him to get close to his daughter and use her to get to her girlfriends.


E, who spent a week wondering and worrying if he was going to go to the hole, lose his job, his apprenticeship, and college all because he’s been blatantly stealing from the kitchen, decides this week to grab another 10 eggs for me to make a quiche, which, by the way came out perfectly (I made a Ritz cracker crust, tuna, sautéed onions, pepper jack cheese, bacon and broccoli; guys circled around the table when I lifted it out of the plastic pan).


On the one hand, he’s still worried, borderline paranoid, that the investigators will show back up and bust him. Yet, he can’t or won’t realize the shakedown was a wakeup call. He has to get out of the hustler mentality. Everything he does revolves around a scam, a con, a hustle. If he’s not careful, he’ll get out of here and the first twinge of greed that hits him will lead him to try and move some drugs again.


It’s not easy to stop what you’re doing. My arrest for embezzlement wasn’t the first time I “played” with other people’s money. I may understand now why I did it, but that doesn’t excuse it, nor does it make the hurt I brought to my wife and kids any less painful. I was self-centered and short sighted and hurt deeply the three people I love the most. No matter what “issues” existed between my wife and me, she and our kids deserved better from me.


I decided after my arrest that I didn’t want to keep repeating the insanity of the past. I couldn’t do it anymore. Maybe it was my finding my faith and understanding what grace really means. I just know, as most people – COs and inmates alike – will tell you, I’m an honest, truthful, stand up guy. I’ve learned that faith and trust in a power beyond yourself is the only way to break out of the cycle of repeating the same behavior.


It also makes you recognize you’re not always right about things. You’ve got to be a little kinder, a lot more forgiving. I wonder, as I sit in here, whether I’d feel the same way if my wife – instead of divorcing me – had said “I’m deeply hurt and it’s going to be very difficult to put this behind us, but I love you and I know that’s what our marriage means”. Somehow, I think I would have.


Days in prison, just like days outside, go on. One leads to the next. Yet, for me, my days are all new. I may follow the same routine, but I go about it in a whole new way.