Realizing I can unlock my own door to go outside.
Took me a while to realize that my roommates didn’t have to unlock it to let me out.
These ex-cons fromAsk Redditshare the habits they had trouble breaking.
Ye Jinghan
1.I didnt use a fork for a few weeks.
Ate everything with a spoon without thinking.
When I got out, I asked my girlfriend to trade me her chicken wings for my macaroni.
I really couldve just went to the kitchen and got more chicken.
4.Not wearing shoes in the shower.
Eating with forks and knives.
Having salt and pepper for food.
Not always having to watch your back.
5.Not me personally but I know a guy that said after he got out he just wanted McDonalds.
6.Staring at sharp things.
You might be surprised what qualifies as a sharp object.
Glass was the biggest thing though, just mirrors in all the bathrooms.
Stopping thinking of objects as weapons is hard.
7.One of my foster sons came to us from juvie.
Every meal his arm was around his plate and he woofed down his food.
My mastiff couldnt keep up.
He always ate back to the wall hunched.
8.I still like having a stash of ramen packs somewhere even if Im not going to eat them.
9.I dont smoke, but every time someone offered me a cig I would pocket it.
On the inside thats a bartering chip, took me about a month or two to break.
I dont sit with my back to the door in public.
I always scan crowds constantly.
I question WHY people are nice to me.
I carry extra clothes, water, and various other things in my car in case I need it.
11.Hoard feminine hygiene products.
We were super limited on the number of pads or tampons they gave us.
They didnt give any to the women in holding cells.
12.Constantly looking over my shoulder.
As a result, I never get excited for something until it actually happens.
Even then, it didnt really hit me till she was born.
you could apply this to anything especially big events.
Getting engaged, planning the wedding, buying a house, ANYTHING.
I still hear from my wife how i wasnt crazy surprised or excited to be having a kid.
You just cant get your hopes up or look forward to anything until it is here or has happened.
Ive been home over 7 years now and with my wife for 6.5.
13.Taking as long as you want in the shower.
For the longest time after I got out, I took less than 5 minute showers.
In prison, every time you get time on the yard, you do laps.
Seriously, almost every single person does it too.
When you get out, its hard to break that habit.
15.Taking a shit with my underwear up to my thighs to hide my junk.
It took a long time to go back to pants around the ankles.
16.Making prison commissary-only food.
17.My ex would sleep a certain way all the time.
He eventually broke that habit.
18.The hardest thing has been to talk without using the words fuck, fucking or asshole in every sentence.
19.Realizing I can unlock my own door to go outside.
Took me a while to realize that my roommates didnt have to unlock it to let me out.
21.I was only locked up for four months in total, all things considered I got off easy.
Hardest habit to break was just doing something without telling someone else.
Hard to remember that theres no authority figure once youre out.
22.I was released at the end of November after 3 years, and my biggest adjustment is grocery shopping.
In prison/jail you typically can only go to the canteen once a week.
So it is still weird adjusting to being able to go and get groceries, hygiene items, etc.
whenever I need them.
Still havent broke them.
Havent slept a full night in over a decade.
Any noise and my eyes are open and Im wide awake.
I can hear really well.
24.An ex-con who works for me always ask to use the restroom.
25.Lots of institutions are cold.
And most inmate wear doesnt have any pockets.
So every once in a while, I find myself still using my jail pockets.
Its just sticking your hands into your pants to keep your hands warm.
26.The hardest thing when you come out is the lack of structure.
I have so much anxiety because my whole day is not scheduled out.
Everyone else was play video games, watching TV, going out, partying, etc.
I just wanted to play Spades man.
29.I did 8 years.
It took a couple months out before I stopped checking for the ID tag on my shirt.
30.Realizing that I could jerk off to real porn instead of tattoos of naked women on inmates.
31.It took me a while not to get nervous when I hear keys.
First time seeing a touch screen drink dispenser at Wendys.
He was the first persons ass I ate and he begged me constantly to do anal.
He was also really into me giving him head in the shower.
Prior to be locked up he wasnt into those things.
He also kept his room ridiculously cold and kept 1 blanket.
35.Ive been out since 01, and I still cant stop claiming my personal space.
Ive gotten better about it in the sense that Im not aggressive about it right off the bat.
36.Flushing the toilet every 5 seconds when Im on it.
Not that its a completely bad habit to courtesy flush but it is a huge waste of water.
I picked it up there and havent kicked the habit yet.
38.Realizing I could just get up and go somewhere.
That I could make plans tomorrow from a thousand different choices.
Hard to break the habit of checking everyone who enters your vicinity.
It feels like youve gotta mark everyone off as a non threat.
39.Not being able to goto the free infirmary when sick or hurt.
40.My partner was locked up for six year in various state prisons.
He still gets wide eyed when he hears someone call someone else bitch or punk even as a joke.
His instinct to fight someone over the littlest things still hasnt worn off.
Hes really working on it though.
41.In 26 months the only habits I kept were the positive ones, hygiene and exercise.. Prison is a garage of a bunch of people that dont want a thing to do with each other.
Unless youve lived a certain lifestyle, theres no one there youd associate with under normal circumstances.
You avoid having any reason to associate with fellow prisoners or the guards.
You attempt to find ways to keep yourself from going totally mad.
Other than that, you venture to live in a private bubble.
Its very hard to shake that when back out in the real world.
43.I had to stop myself from knocking when getting up from a table.
Explaining why this happens also really freaked my family out.
44.Pacing back and forth.
He killed himself 3 years ago after getting a 20 year sentence just 1 year after getting out.
46.I find myself hoarding toilet paper under my bed.
Sometimes I do it without thinking and Ill look under there and have 10 rolls of toilet paper.
47.Being paranoid always looks over my shoulder and never letting anyone stand behind me.
49.I spent 72 months in prison for a tragic car accident that I had caused.
After I was released I kept telling my wife exactly what I was doing without her asking.
50.I made sure I never consolidated enjoyable things.
If I had a snack- I ate it and concentrated on it.
If there was something good on TV, I watched it.
