“People Who Served A Long Time In Prison, What Shocked You When You Got Out?” (36 Answers)

I didn’t do a “long time” compared to others I met along the way, but 2019-2022.

What made it crazier was Covid happened during this time. So i left the world one way and came back and some things were drastically different.

I’m also still to this day shocked by how much social anxiety that time created in me. It’s very difficult for me to get out of a cell mentality sometimes.

I watched a news show that followed a guy that had just gotten out of prison after a multi decade stay inside. When asked this very question he replied "they have peanut butter with jelly in the same jar". Apparently this blew his mind.

My buddy got out of prison, was in for 15 years, we went to a buffet and he just couldn’t believe it, he started crying!

Been out nearly 1 years from an 11 years sentence,and i struggle just leaving the house,like a kind of pending doom feeling.

I haven't been in prison but one of my friends was in for almost 30 years. He didn't understand computer basics. He couldn't write an email, couldn't open a word document. Probably stuff we all consider second nature. What always made me the most sad was how he never fully understood how easy it is to get your information ( banking, identity, etc) stolen.

I didn’t do a super long stretch, but even a few years felt wild coming back. Phones shocked me the most, everyone staring at screens nonstop and barely making eye contact. Prices too, like everything cost way more than my brain remembered. That adjustment part stuck with me longer than I expected.

Not been imprisoned but been sectioned for a very very long time and literally everything is overwhelming. first time i got out and saw people just walking down the road like normal or going in a shop and i couldnt stop thinking how free they were.

My FIL was just released after 8 yrs. While in, he also went blind. He calls everyday asking for help with his phone, checking his bank information, calling an uber, making appointments with his PO. He has also almost been scammed multiple times by “facebook dating girls” It doesn’t help that he decided to live 2.5 hrs away, but he does have a decent paying job there. My wife is a saint for taking his calls and helping him as much as she can.

After I did my 20 years in Butler. I was shocked how so many men were...losers. I worked at a spot located on the main Boulevard when I first got out.

There was a few young gents that would talk about a girl they liked. They came to me for advice. I told them the next time they see her, wash your face, slick your hair back, look them in the eyes and ask them out. When I asked them how it went. They basically said they didn't want to get turned down.

Same with when a couple young gents would get in a heated argument. I said take it outside. They proceeded outside and just yelled at each other. No fighting. One dude deflated another's tires. The other guy just said wth man.

Dude I went to highschool with got like 15-20 years back in mid 90s. Got out and went on a little crime spree.
I guess you cold say he was shocked that were cameras ever freeking where by then. Back in for the long haul :P.

Self-checkout. I didn't expect to have to work a shift at the grocery store just to buy some milk.

I haven’t but my mom did. First 20 years of my life that’s mostly where she was.

She always complained how jail she felt like she had a place, she was like a mom on the yard in chowchilla.

She never got her footing and was out for a while before she passed. Always scared me.. how do you get comfortable with prison?? She was so nice I couldn’t picture her in there but she was all tatted up. Face and neck. And I’m sure everyone else did. She scared them all lol.

Anyways. I know she was shocked, mostly by how dejected society is maybe.. you gotta find a way to fit in or you get left behind. I do get that part.

You are more clear you are nothing and things move on without you, and you tend to be more aware of there are rules and you are limited and can only follow.

I had to Google this but I remember my uncle showing me Scarface (the video game) and then a month later he got arrested. He got out 3-4 years ago and said his biggest shock was how everyone was doing the social media thing.

I only did a couple yrs and a bunch of lesser sentences in the 80s I remember being surprised at doors automatically opening. I was more surprised how easy doing pen time was early 80's I was high quite a lot on pills or hash or oil.

I knew someone that was in prison throughout the 90s and 2000s. They were in complete shock and loss to the information boom. Never could fully adapt.