NOT 'TOO SOFT'

Dear “Too Soft,” I am a drug offender at Scott State Prison. Your
disdain for the prison system is warranted, however, you are greatly
misinformed in reference to our supposed “amenities” and our work
details. Let me assure you that in no way, shape or form is prison
life attractive or easy. All state prisoners have a full time work
detail from which we return to reside in 90 degree living quarters. We
then dine on a sub-standard diet and are prescribed ibuprofen for any
ailment from dandruff to cancer.

The “amenities” he referred to exist only in the confines of the
general public’s imagination. Punishment is not supposed to be easy
and I am not whining. I am simply trying to establish that doing time
is no picnic.

I hope that “Too Soft” is never subjected to a prisoner’s plight
because his supple and manicured hands would succumb to its rigors.

Michael Bird

Hardwick