The State Penitentiary and Why I'm joining Amnesty International

Glad to have a pic with Ben and Jake, not too thrilled by the creepy guy lurking in the shadows...

Halloween party continued:

So here is where write that at the party, in a very a-typical  Marcie manner I did end up going to the “haunted” State Penitentiary. As I imagined, it scared the crap out of me. The only reason I managed to make it through was because Ben held my hand and had my back, and my new friend, Jake, graciously allowed me to hold the arm of his jacket so I could keep him firmly in front of me. In this manner, I managed to only have a few inches of myself exposed to the scary dressed-up masochists running around the place.

I knew I was going to be scared, but I hadn’t anticipated the experience would also make me sad, sad that all over the world people are murdered, tortured, held unfairly, imprisoned without a trial, and are may be taken advantage of because they are ill or unwell.  I'm sad this is a part of our nation's past and still a piece our present. As psychopaths jumped out darkened corners making me heart beat faster, it occurred to me, we Americans find this entertaining because for most of us it’s so out of our everyday context.

 I don’t think people living in countries with totalitarian, autocratic, or unstable governments, human beings who live in fear of soldiers or police coming in the night, or those who’ve been in American mental institutions, nursing homes, or Abu Grave, are eager to jump in jail for a fun little romp ‘round.  As I tightened my death-grip on Ben’s hand and Jake’s jacket, and witnessed a “prisoner” being “electrocuted” I vowed to make like Bono, and start donating money to Amnesty International!

Now in spite of the irregular heart palpitations, I’m glad I came along; it can be fun to be scared and I enjoyed being with friends. I just want to offer up a reminder that those of use who are blessed be free should do what we can and remember the many who are not. There are people, churches, and non -profits who work to bring justice, and they could use our support. Let’s enjoy Halloween thrills and chills and do what we can to help those who are living lives that are truly scary.