To answer a question

[unknownclown]

I was asked what I went to prison for and since I dont wanna hijack the thread and I have nothing to hide Ill explain it here.

I got busted for burglary in 1997, I cant remember what degree (dont make me dig the papers out!) but it was to a business that was closed at the time.
Its a major long story...
Oh what the heck I have time if you all feel like reading a novel.
I was at my friends place Glen and Leahs kickin back when he got a call. His friend had left a box of stuff at his house and wanted to come get it. Which he did Man I cant even remeber his name since I barely knew him so Ill call him Wonder Twit. It fits trust me! So he comes over and hangs out for awhile and Glen askes me if I can take Wonder Twit home so he and Leah can crash. I of course say yes, thats what nice people do right? Ok so Wonder Twit grabs his box of god knows what and hops into my tricked out baby blue Pinto. Oh yeah dont hate me I know ya all are jealous just at the mention of the name "Pinto!" So I head out he tells me to head north and I do, after ahile though it becomes obvious Wonder Twit has no place to go. We start drivin around in circles Im getting ever so ticked and now I have to go to the bathroom. He tells me to stop up ahead there was a bar I could go and then says something about breaking into one of the RVs in thev lot next to it to sleep. Yeah right whatever I dont care I need to get the Wonder Twit outta my hair cause now Im ticked and tired. I park in back and go into the bar to relieve myself. I come out he is gone but his stuff is still in the car so I figured he went to the bathroom also. I sit on the hood of my car and wait.......... and wait...... and oh yeah wait some more (kinda makes me think Im the wonder twit now I shoulda left!) hm... 5 more minutes that Wonder twit better be here!!! Or Im leaving! Well the cops came instead. Wonder twit had broken into an espresso stand and was bookin down the main drag here with a case of Cocoa Swiss Miss to be speciffic. I drove the car I was an excessory (SP?)

Now to fill ya all in our judicial system here is ran on a point type thing and that last felony was the straw that broke the camels back and had me sent to prison. Wonder Twit got 30 days, 10 off (a 3rd)with good time and scooted out the door by the time he got to court. Since I had 5 other fellonies I went on vacation to the lovely WA DOC for women (Purdy). Even more ticked off I ight add!!

I lost my Pinto and everything.

Now I just know that you all are wondering what the other 5 fellonies were...
taking a motor vehicle w/o permission (self explanatory)
forgery (stolen checks)
2 possessions of stolen property (1 was a credit card I had no clue my ex brother inlaw left in my car)
and theft

Now like most people youre thinking, "I thought it was 3 strikes and you're out." Well those are violent crimes none of mine were violent. Although with the amout of them I was considered a violent offender of some sort. I cant remember how they explained it to me in work release before they let me go. I do know that with my points and the way the system is ran that if I ever got into trouble again Id could pretty much count on doin 48 months. I got sentenced to 18 and did 11 months by the way.

Now if anyone wants to they may feel free to judge me on my back ground, heck I dont care I was a rotten human being!!! I know it now and I knew it then. Although I felt at the time I had no other alternative and did what I did to survive. I knew no other way. When I was a kid the only way I could get things was to sneak and steal from my own house. I had locks on my bedroom door so if I had to use the restroom Id have to climb out a window. There were times that I was locked in the storage closet my dad also kept me in a small cupboard beneath the bar so he could keep track of me while he was drinking. My mom sold coke and was a bartender. By the time I was in 3rd grade I knew how to mix most of the basic drinks and serve them to the famdamly (uncles grandparents) while they sat around getting high. I even got to learn my way around green houses but not anything like the ones we keep. By the time I was 14 I was kicked out of my house and Ive been on my own ever since. Id sleep in parks cemetaries where ever and stole to get what I needed to live.

Thats my back ground. Am I proud of it? Heck NO! but I am proud of who Ive become and I wouldnt be who I am today without it. So dont feel sorry or pity me.

 

[Clint]

IMO. you didn't do anything wrong.

 

[RamPuppy]

I would never think of pittying you!

I think I probably know you better than most, and I am proud to call you friend. I know you for the good, loving mother and CP addict that you are.

 

[Ozzy]

Well, we've all done things that we are not proud of. I know from experince that sometimes you really do have to do whatever you can just to survive. And unless somebody has been in your shoes they can't judge you. I'd rather call you a friend than a snobby person anyday.

 

[herenorthere]

Our felon seems to be the only one with the moral strength not to hijack someone else's thread.  Figures.

Coming from a green lawn America background, I didn't know what to think when I first began meeting people who'd been in prison or mental institutions.  Suburban dogma says people get what they deserve and that those with strong character rise and those without it don't.

Being close with someone who's been in and out of institutions for nearly 20 years, I've finally come to know people in or from different circumstances than mine.  Maybe I'm slow, but it sure took a long time to realize few problems have simple answers.  The sad thing is that some of the people I kept away from when I was young might have been some of the best people I could have known.

 

[mabudon]

LOL some parts of that story sound all too familiar to me, glad you made it through in one piece UKC

My only issue is the Pinto, didn't you know how dangerous those things were

??

 

[schloaty]

Pinto..... movie "Top Secret"..... <span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>ping</span> <span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>BOOM!</span>

Wish everyone could learn from their experiences the way you did, UKC.

 

[unknownclown]

Um Yes I knew how dangerous driving a pinto was, but to be honest at that point I didnt care it was the least of my problems.

 

[Bugweed]

Its the addict thing that bothers me the most. Didn't anyone ever tell you that you can't shake a CP addiction?? What are you gonna do if it ever comes down to shooting up a VFT?? Or a Sarracenia? Man! Strong stuff, Shelly! I am hoping you stick with just snorting a bloom or two, and you don't start taking your CP intravenously! If you do, Call me. We'll take our CP together, and then go to CP Anonymous for rehab. (Its a twelve plant program.)

 

[TunaSurprise]

How long does it take you to come up with all this hilarious stuff, Bugweed?

UKC: I don't judge you any differently, we all did things we needed to, or things by accident...or things we wanted to, that most would consider to be wrong. I accidentally brought a knife with a 3.75" blade to school after i wore the same pants to a boy scout outing the weekend before. Well, it wasn't found, so i got off lucky there.

You got busted for having someone's credit card without their permission, even though you didn't know it was there? That's just stupid.

You got busted for driving away with someone who'd just committed a theft? Did you know he had committed it? If you didn't then it was a mistake to send you to jail.

 

[Copper]

Those with no sin cast the first stones. You will see no stones flying.

I to came from a bad environment as well. Our families sound similiar with their drugs, alcohol and other unmentionables. You were not a bad person then. You made your choices from what you knew at the time. I made bad choices as well, but I went on what I knew and the choice that I thought I had. We were not bad people and, forgive me, were sinners like everyone else. We know a better life now and make better decisions. We still do things wrong (sin), but hopefully we do not mean to or are sorry for them. And we are forgiven. You are a wonderful person now and I am very glad to know you.

 

[PlantAKiss]

We are all the sum of our experiences in life. Without those experiences, both good and bad, we would not be what we are today. We are all ever-changing works of art.

You make mistakes...you learn. Its those that make mistakes and don't learn from them that have the hardest road.

I think you are so fine, you'd qualify to be called "a southern lady"

So get out the freshly baked oatmeal cookies and pitcher of iced tea and invite me over. haha!

Love you Shelly!

BTW...she's a good MOM too!

 

[jhaluska]

Since I'm a pessimist when bad things happen, I try to think of worst things that could have happened. You know, like dying in a ball of fire due to the Pinto getting rear ended.

For what it's worth, I would have never expected such a nice person to have such a bad upbringing.

 

[rattler]

thats it? hmmmmmm you should meet some of the ppl i consider good friends. lol i grew up fairly poor though i had/have parents with a good work ethic so food was always on the table, usually nothing fancy but your belly was full. i did some minor theft when younger, mostly cause i was pissed that my parents couldnt afford the toys i wanted. never got caught but i wisened up and cut it out after a bit. did weed in high school. Darla basically got me to quit e that but im about fed up with the medical community and am about ready to start again. got nailed for under age drinking(they didnt catch me till i was 18 so not much happened, a $70 fine and it was worth it for th laugh but thats another story) i did stuff im not proud of, will prolly do stuff im not proud of again. UKC, your a saint compaired to some of my buddys.

 

[Tamlin Dawnstar]

Many's the man and woman sitting in a godforsaken cell that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I hate prison's and favor them being burnt to the ground! Its a fob-off from a society unwilling to deal with its unlawful members on a more individual basis....and it comes right down into the homelife where the problems start. The problems go to jail, the oldies go to nursing homes.....these are failed gameplans that deliver more ill than good. If we could just handle it on another level, with concern and care, we could rehabilitate these poor souls. FAiling that, we can also evict them from life rather than supporting them in crime colleges. Take that money used to build and maintain prisions, and apply it to some REAL rehabilitation effort. If it fails and the crimminal is beyond rehabilitation, turn em into fertilizer and grow some pretty roses. I'm tired of funding an alternate crimminal society's lifestyle. Cure em or kill em, but don't lock them up where they are educated in how to succeed at REAL crime, turn them loose, and then support them at societies expense when they are caught again (repeatedly)! This is NOT working! Shelly was innocent and came out of this relatively intact emotionally, but it is not always so. I feel for what she went through, and I have other friends who have been there as well. PUNISH real crime, and forget the victimless stuff! I am for the three strikes deal, but strike 3 on REAL crime and you're done, and good riddence! There is no more space. We're stacked like dominoes and when one goes over, it affects all he rest. We don't have the luxury of supporting a crimminal society anymore, and we need to stop making crimminals of those who patently are NOT. Shelly, you been some places girl!!! The fact that you came out intact says it all and I admire your honesty and wanting to share the details with friends. Saves having to keep retelling the tale. Big hugs to you from me! Even if you WERE guilty as SIn, you rehabilitated yourself, and I'll bet you are a lot more particular as to where you go and who you hang with. The same option is open to those who really are quilty. After the first warning it behooves anyone who has done crime to ammend their ways PRONTO. Rehabilitation can teach them HOW to do that. Strike 2 means the EYE is on you for real, and strike 3 saves everyone a lot of stress and grief and makes for pretty flowers. Turn the prison grounds into parks, buy everybody a nice muscial instrument and we can all enjoy life without Bubba. Vote for Tamlin next election.

 

[rattler]

well put Tamlin.

 

[Starman]

OMG Unknownclown, I cant believe your parants kicked you out at 14......Im nearly 14 now and I cant imagine being kicked out of my home, if I did Id probably die on the streets.

Well I dont think you did anything wrong either to be honest.

 

[Gawd_oOo]

Hey yer not alone. Been there and done that. Didn't get caught for alot of things I should have. And got caught up on some stuff I probably shouldn't have.

Now it has been 8 1/2 years since my last conviction, yet any time I get pulled over the police still want to search my car. Just happened on thursday on my way home.

As long as you are living a good life now, the past doesn't(shouldn't) matter.

 

[JBL]

Same here friends--checkered past and then some. Never did jail time though, and I'm grateful. I have a feeling this thread could get mighty lengthy if all are honest. I've been saved by my CP habit (oh yeah, and God, and family and friends...)--just traded other addictions for this one.

 

[unknownclown]

Quote[/b] ]You got busted for having someone's credit card without their permission, even though you didn't know it was there? That's just stupid.

You got busted for driving away with someone who'd just committed a theft? Did you know he had committed it? If you didn't then it was a mistake to send you to jail.

The credit card was in tucked into the seat of my car you really had to dig to find it. Heck I didnt even know it was there or I wouldnt have given permission to search it. But since it was in my possession there was nothing I could do. Oh and I wasnt driving haha I was kicked back on the hood of the car chillin. Heck if I knew anything about it Id have grabbed something with a street value NOT cocoa heck if he wanted it that bad I coulda bought him some

I took the Plea bargain since if I didnt they threatened to get me for the box of stuff he had in the car which I forgot to add was stolen as well and be linked to other lovely things. I only took the plea if they made sure in the paper work I was an essory since burglary is a heavy charge. Also the prosecuting atourney was asking for a lower sentance since it was obvious I was nowhere near the guy at the time he had gotten busted but the judge went over their heads probably cause they wanted me locked up.

As for the car blowing up I didnt care heck that was a time in my life where I was on self destruct. I was also whitness to a drug collection gone bad, hiding from an abusive husband, and lost in crank. At the time if I had died from it exploding I would have just been happy it was all over and could finally rest.
The prison time was litterally a vacation and Im not at all sorry I went since it really made me put life in perspective. Although going to our sentencing I did tackle Wonder Twit by jumping out of the van and landing on him not much else I could do since I was chained in shackles and hand cuffed to my waist. All he had to do is tell them I didnt have anything to do with it! Spineless Wonder Twit!