I had to think long and hard about this one, because the disadvantages of being on the inside of a correctional facility as an inmate are multiple and overwhelming.
My time in a municipal county lockup gave me an opportunity to clear my mind and body of the substances that were defining, but not yet ruling my life, at the time of my arrest.
The withdrawal was brutal but relatively short, with my blood pressure leveling out after a week or two, and the functioning of my intestinal tract returning to some semblance of normal in fairly short order.
Believe me when I say that the last thing you want to have in lockup are issues of digestion.
Your cellmate will concur with that assessment.
And with a clear mind and body comes an attention to detail you might have otherwise missed as a perennial substance abuser.
The food may be bad, but you can taste it.
The TV and shouted conversations in the day room may be cacophonous, but you can follow what’s going on.
You can lose yourself in a dogeared paperback in a way you haven’t been able to in years.
You’re suddenly wide awake.
And while your situation is far from ideal…
Sometimes awake is preferable to the alternative.
Wish I’d had the sense to stay that way when I got out.
