Can Someone Explain This To Me?

Hi Everyone,

I haven't ever started my blog this way, but change is good. So I just have one question that I would like to pose to everyone today. Maybe you will know the answer, but I bet you dollars to donuts (where did that saying come from?), that no one will be able to answer this one question. Where can you buy almost anything, like what a grocery store carries, (alcohol not included) for cost?

Thought of an answer yet? I will give you a hint? Good people can't buy "whatever" at cost. Still no answer? Ok, try this hint; only bad people can buy "whatever" at cost. What kind of bad people could I possibly be talking about? Well......... in order to get this special offer, you probably won't like this, but you have to do something really bad, get caught, convicted and finally incarcerated in a New York State maximum security prison. Believe it or not, this is a very true fact. The info that I got pertained only to maximum security prisons no lower level security prison.

So how did I get this info? A while ago, we were at a party where I spoke with a guy who works in a NYS maximum security prison. I started asking him tons of questions. Why? Because: a) I don't know anyone who is incarcerated and b) since I never knew anyone who worked in one, I was intrigued about what goes on in prisons. I have to admit, I did ask a few dumb questions, from my vast wealth of prison knowledge that I learned from TV. But our conversation somehow drifted into what prisoners can buy from the commissary. I was amazed that they can buy basically anything, except of course alcohol. When I say anything, I mean even frozen chicken. That kind of shocked me since I immediately asked if they had refrigerators in their cells? They don't, but they can get ice for their coolers that are in their cells.

But the most unbelievable thing that I learned about maximum security prisons, and this is the answer to my original question, inmates can buy almost anything they want from the commissary for cost! Yes that's right, for cost! That is, they purchase the items for the same price that the prison system pays for them, with no price mark ups what so ever. Now to me, if someone is in a maximum security prison, since they had done something extremely bad, like murder, why should they get a sweet perk like this? You and I don't get to buy grocery store products at cost. The prices that the inmates pay are ridiculously low on everything. I could save a lot of money if I could shop at their commissary. This makes no sense to me at all. I read a lot about how expensive it is to house an inmate for a year, here in NYS. Well here is a news flash for the NYS prison system. Immediately stop selling what's in the commissaries at cost. The profits could help defray the cost of running the prisons. While I'm at it, why not have inmates grow their own food, milk their own cows etc., etc. Shouldn't that save the system a lot more money? Somehow, common sense is not part of the prison system, where you would think that it would be a priority in all areas.

Til next week.

Peter