How was your day?

You don't even have to ask that question to get the answer---from your spouse after work, from your kids after school, from the guy next to you at the bar or diner, from the woman ahead of you at the check-out. Stuff happens. We have tales to tell at the end of the day.

It's no different in prison, but the stories of prisoners are different, and we would do well to listen.

One of my friends in a southern Michigan prison emailed me yesterday to say that a young kid, 21 years of age and in prison on a non-violent charge, was nearly stomped to death in his cell by his roommate the night before. The assailant had jimmied the locks on the cell first, so the guards couldn't get in to stop him. He brutally beat the young man for about a half hour while corrections officers had to nearly tear down the door with sledge hammers and pry bars. They'll have to rebuild the whole front of the cell before it can be used again. Quite a scene. Blood everywhere.

Word is the young man may survive.

One of my friends in the women's facility sent me a very short email message: Trina passed away last night at the hospital. She got pneumonia and her heart gave out. I don't think she has any family.

How was your day?

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