We’ve been keeping in touch with friends in different prisons around the country and most of them have a 15 minute limit for calls – and the time just flies. It seems that much can be said in 15 minutes, but actually it’s just not enough for a good conversation, especially since it’s not every day or even regularly.
Nowadays when cell phones, texting, chat, IM and social media keep us connected all the time, real-time, for little or no cost at all, and allow sharing experiences, opinions, photos, emotions, everything – it’s really difficult waiting for a certain day, talking for a limited time, and being unable to connect whenever and wherever to your friend, or your loved one. Not only did it make us appreciate better what we have, but it also made us appreciate the time we had to talk with our friends.
We also got to understand that phone calls are a privilege – not a right – and that many families go without hearing their loved ones for many weeks, even months.
It’s hard to comprehend such a thing, in this day and age, and it’s very hard to get used to it. E-mail is not available to all inmates and in all prisons, and snail mail, which all inmates can receive, is so outdated. Not to mention that everything – mail, e-mail, phone calls – is monitored, so, no privacy at all!
We would love to hear from you about how you cope with all these problems related to staying in touch with your inmate, and how it’s affected your life and relationships.
You can either send us your comments, or you can sign up to be a contributor, and have your own blog on Prison Call Deals.
Its hard not being able to talk to my husband whenever I want. And its really wrong that we didn’t talk to each other for almost 3 weeks when he went in. Shame on the system that is not working properly…