Former Inmates Describe What Surprised Them Re-Entering The Outside World

As their offspring explained in a Reddit post, so many inmates are waiting for the day when they can feel their bodies submerged in water again.

Whether it's because they're taking a bath or going for a swim, that feeling is something that completely eludes them now because prisons just have showers.

As one former inmate's coworker posted, he was stunned to see that his car was on the street in the same spot he last left it six years prior.

Although the battery was dead, the tires still held air and he was able to start the car with a push. Above all else, he was the most surprised that nobody had taken it or towed it.

As one inmate wrote after completing a six-year sentence, they didn't realize how much of the world becomes inaccessible when you don't have a smartphone.

As they put it, "Companies don’t even do paper applications anymore."

In their post, the user explained that at the time, they were a child and the cousin had just spent between 10 and 15 years behind bars.

So while the Star Wars game the user was playing was mildly entertaining to them, their cousin was amazed at the graphical capabilities of the system. Soon enough, he would learn that even at the time, that wasn't the most cutting-edge gaming experience one could have.

But of course, it's worth remembering that even the first Game Boy was relatively new by the time he went to jail.

But as the replies to their post suggested, the sudden rise of companies like Bird and Lime that made these scooters available in major cities was just as jarring and sudden to those who were around to witness it.

As they put it, "In there I had no choices & was given what I needed. Having all these options overwhelmed me. I gave my list to my uncle to get it for me. It was really hard to go out in public for a while."

They also found that while they had looked forward to being able to sleep in a dark, quiet room with nobody around, it took longer than they expected before they actually felt comfortable enough to get any sleep that way.

In their words, "I forgot how gorgeous nature was, it put the thought into my mind that I never want to go back, because there is no beauty in prison, the beauty is on the outside. I'm glad I'm out now, and every day still take in the amazing outside world for what it is."

Another user was moved by this answer and recommended checking out the Big Bend National Park in western Texas.

And most of the time, they saw this change in little details such as the fact that they can now shower without flip flops and can feel carpet between their toes again.

They describe what you experience in prison as being the first page of a book that you get to see the remainder of when you get out.

As they put it, "People think about a prisoner doing time but don't understand that the time does them. You are frozen in it. While you're stuck in a constant loop of the same day every day, the rest of the world moves on without you. When you get home, you feel left behind. It's an anxious panic to catch up after that."

As this person worded it, "When I got to ride in a car again, it felt like we were going about warp 15. I think we’re only moving about 45 miles an hour."

More specifically, the user mentioned that he was particularly stunned by how much the prices at McDonald's had risen in the 13 years he was away.

Considering how oddly steep their prices seem even if you take inflation into account, he's right to be a little weirded out by that change.

h/t: Reddit | RedditR_Us