I envy prisoners

I've recently begun working at a prison as a counselor and I envy my clients.

The inmates have all their basic needs met. They live in a clean environment, they have the safety and security of their own personal body guards, they don't have to stress about bills or health care, and they have all the time in the world to read, ponder, and work out. They sacrifice their personal privacy and in exchange they get the kind of life that I hope to retire to one day. They live in better conditions and eat better food than I did as a college student.

Most of the prisoners want out because they don't like being told what to do all the time, but some realize they have it pretty good and will actually attack guards just so they can stay in longer.

Meanwhile I get to work in a 12 foot by 10 foot concrete room, with bars on the windows, and a heavy metal door that I call my office. I spend most of my day in that room while the prisoners get to go outside for fresh air and exercise. I work on tedious paperwork while they get to socialize. I go home and have to buy groceries and cook while they get a nutritionally balanced meal presented right to them. I worry about when my health insurance will kick in and they have health care right at their beck an call whenever they need it. I have to worry about how I will pay my bills and they can relax knowing the tax payer has their tab. You could argue that prisoners hurt one another all the time, but really I could end up in a car crash or shot in a robbery at any time.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I just can't see how I have it any better than the prisoners. If anything, I think the prisoners have the better deal.

Angelika F. wrote:Maybe he/she should transfer to a prison where inmates are sexually abused or beaten by guards, where inmates can never see or call the families who no longer have their primary 'bread-winner', where inmates have nothing to do but ponder the misery that lies before them. Maybe then the counselor will appreciate his/her freedom...