A recent poll in Tokyo, Japan surveyed prisoners and ex-prisoners regarding prison life and found that most had complaints.
Complaints ranged from dinner times being too early, the types of food they ate, and yes, the fact that their pajamas were "unstylish".
Not that I'm a large proponent for mistreating prisoners, don't get me wrong. But "unstylish pajamas"? Why should prisoners be complaining about that?
And I would say that prisoners should have thought about that before breaking the law. But I'm pretty sure that while they're out casing for shops and banks to rob or checking out cars to steal and hijack, the last thing on their minds is whether or not they'll look good in prison-issued uniforms.
But I am also the type of person who would look at a prisoner and think, well, if you don't like the gray pajamas with vertical stripes, then how about some bright lime-green pajamas with orange and pink polka dots instead? I mean seriously, is this the type of information that we really need to know?
And yes, I understand that this news story comes from Japan, and as such doesn't really affect many of us here in the United States. But our prisoners complain about things that are just as stupid
For example, in Canada, the prisoners are complaining that the guards' uniforms are too "authoritative" And in Georgia, prisoners have complained about not being able to change their uniforms and having to stand at attention when the warden passes through for inspection..
So why is it that when prisoners complain about "unstylish" uniforms and safety procedures such as inspections, it makes the news and people feel sorry for them and work to try to get them new uniforms.
But when our children go to school and want to wear something stylish, we claim that bland uniforms "builds character" or somehow stops them from teasing each other because there's a smaller gap between rich and poor.
We are seriously messing up our priorities.
I don't know about you, but I hear prisoners are complaining about "unstylish" uniforms and I laugh. "Unstylish" uniforms are part of a consequence for the bad choices the prisoners made.
"Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible."
Now prisoners in the US will be complaining, which is funny because I would think they'd be the first, and even though school kids in uniforms have been complaining since they got uniforms the punishment that prisoners are supposed to be recieving will at least be "fashionable". That's supremely lame.