Evaristo Salas Jr.

I've been trying to prepare my mind by trying to kind of visualize it, reading books,

um you know doing these re-entry classes that they had here or they had in the main when i was there and just trying everything i can so like even um i wish to do these fake scenarios of uh okay this is how much i paid for this month these are going to be my cost you know yeah and just going through all the most of what i'm going to need and you know how to build that that kind of stuff really kind of helps you know so

Well, that's kind of one of the beefs I have with prison is that they want you to, you know, to kind of reintegrate into society, to live as a responsible person.

But then they take away all your responsibilities and they won't give them to you.

They're like, OK, we want you to live this way.

We want you to learn how to, you know, to go out into the world and provide for yourself.

But guess what?

We're going to provide you all the clothing.

Even if you don't work or nothing, we'll give you everything you need, three square meals, all this kind of stuff.

And then they don't even provide most of the classes that would be necessary for you to kind of get there.

So in a sense, if you've been in prison as long as I have, you almost feel like you've been living at your parents' house the whole time where you got really no worries, natural worries at all, which is terrible.

set up a bank account and you know you and you know those bits and pieces those everyday things that a lot of people take for granted because they sort of just learn as they go i suppose and and you're just going to be dropped back into society and say all right junior off we go you know good luck with it and by the way you owe us this money you're going to pay us one way or another or potentially going back to prison or we're going to violate you or those kind of things it's almost a setup for failure it's like okay we don't want you here but when we when we make money off you some way so we're going to bring you back and that kind of stuff it's just it's just this weird kind of

Don't get me wrong, there's some people that don't care that prison is their life and that kind of stuff, but I'm definitely not one of them.

This is the worst part about the Washington State prison system, and it may take place in other states.

So they don't allow you to take any class that has to do with, let's say, college courses and those kind of things that the prison provides.

computer skills, all these really kind of important classes they have, like where they teach you how to, you know, machine, they have these classes in the main where they teach you how to machine parts.

Unless you're under five years, you can't even get into those classes.

Yeah, it's horrible.

So I've been in prison for going on 27 years now.

That 25 years prior to that, even if I wanted to get in those classes, they would not let me.