Entry #13 - Friday the 13th... 3 Days Late - 4.16.07

It’s Monday in mid-April and we are enduring what may be a record-breaking tempest. Snow fell early morning, blanketing the slush that had fallen prior, trapping it and making for pretty brutal driving conditions. Few guards showed up for work today. Being isolated in the mountains of Nowheresville, this place all but shuts down for the extreme weather, which is commonplace. I woke up and went to work this morning, only to find it had been canceled. Same thing with my Horticulture class this afternoon. This had the makings of a strange day from the moment I awoke.

Stirring in the range and listening to the radio, I caught word about the shooting at Virginia Tech. My heart began to sink as I walked upstairs to the TV room, where I tuned into CNN for details. As I looked around the room at my fellow inmates, I could sense a general disgust shared by us all. In spite of our position as stigmatized outsiders, we felt no sense of joy. The horror of the situation in no way escaped a single person watching those events. I felt the need to record this reaction because it occurred to me that it might not be so apparent to the general public.

As a whole, convicted felons are not the tempestuous vindictive people that many imagine us to be. Despite our marginalized status, most of us dream about one day becoming productive members of society.

I can definitely say that, while personally I have many qualms and objections to the structure of modern society, I do not wish it ill only to prove my predictions. I do legitimately believe that many of our ideas and institutions are sick and bound to fall, but I’d honestly rather be wrong than be right and suffering. Nor do I wish suffering on others due to my misfortunes. In my youth, I may have felt otherwise, but those days have long since past.

My heart grieves for the students, faculty, and families of the slain, regardless of how they may feel about me. My thoughts and prayers are with you, as are those of many of my fellows. Dios te bendiga.