I’m visiting a prison later this week in Blountstown and I was required to submit information for a background check before I got permission to go inside. Let that sink in. I totally understand, but the irony wasn’t lost on me. I heard that the prison is training inmates on how to operate a piece of machinery that I’m interested in knowing more about. And, because there is always a story, there is a story. However, I don’t have permission for the story yet. They have vocational programs and when the inmates that are in the program are released, they leave with a vocational certificate. I’ll have to see if we have any subscribers there. We have quite a few in prison. One time a paper was sent back to us because inside that issue was a story about how someone got in trouble for breaking someone out of prison. The note we received back from the prison office was that the story was too descriptive and gave details on how to sneak certain items into prison. The person that didn’t receive their paper missed it, so we cut that story out of the paper and sent it back to the prison. It was very appreciated. We appreciate our subscribers that happen to be in prison. At least it helps the prison guards read newspapers – because apparently, they are reading them before they are passed on to their rightful owners. My mom used to go to a maximum-security prison for women in Orlando every Sunday evening to lead a Bible study when she was in her 80’s. She was always nervous that she would make a mistake and not be able to go back. There were very strict rules about what she could wear and bring with her. Pens were not allowed, or sharp pencils. I’ll follow her lead when I visit the prison.
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