" My uncle spent over a decade in prison house . You could n’t tap him on his shoulder or approach him from behind . He would turn to you quickly and already have a fist . "

The other day, Reddit useru/youknowyoulickasked,“People who have been in jail, what habits do you still do today that you learned from being in lockup?“Former inmates shared the unconventional and unexpected habits they still hold onto to this day, and TBH I learned a lot.

Here are some of their most fascinating responses:

1.“The dorm pod I was in had metal stairs that made loud noises when you walked down them. Almost got in a fight with three other people because I woke up at night and had to piss and woke everyone up. To this day, I can’t fall asleep without peeing immediately before lying down.”

" Like , even if I went less than an hour earlier , I have to stand there and focus with Yogi Berra - same intensity to squeeze a few drop out , or I lie alive feeling like my vesica is full . "

— u / StubisMcGee

2.“When my dad came home from prison, I remember him being very polite. He was careful not to bump anybody, and he always said excuse me if he were trying to pass somebody.”

— u / kindalikeacoustic

" Anytime you get within subdivision ’s length of anyone in the penitentiary , you have to say rationalize me . If you do n’t , you are liable to get an seat whooping . Also , you never come near someone from behind . That ’s another right way to get your Eastern Samoa beat . "

— u / Ok - Run3329

a person's hands going through jail bars

3.“My bedroom is basically set up like my old cell. In my bedroom, I have everything at arm’s length. I sit with my back to the wall when I’m out. I still pace back and forth in small spaces.”

— uracil / ieatassfordays

" One of my best and closest supporter off somebody while richly back in the ' XC and did 15 yr in Attica and a few other prisons in upstate New York State . Since he ’s been out ( 2012 ) , he spends a few hour every solar day in a tool throw in his backyard — the sizing of a poky cell , fully stock with a electric refrigerator , TV , AC , music , and a little bed . He said it help him find reasonable and in control . I get it , though , and chill with him .   He has a six - bedroom house that he share with his wife . The shed is just a freestanding shoes for him . "

— u / SoulFinders

a toilet

4.“In jail, I learned the very useful concept of ‘program.’ Think of your normal life, all the things that you do in a day or week that fill up the time: hobbies, time with friends and family, the gym, cooking, shopping, a job, etc. All of these activities are what make up your life as you know it — your identity. Responsibilities and obligations are what get most people out of bed every morning. Now, take all of that away. You now have tons of free time and nothing to fill it with. The human subconscious needs to be busy; it’s a holdover from our days as hunter-gatherers since being occupied was necessary for survival, and with absolutely nothing to do, people go mad.”

" Program is how to fill that fourth dimension in a responsible and productive way . In the dim-witted term , it ’s making a agenda and sticking to it — decide how to fill that empty day with activity that serve your goals . During my time inside , I got in bully shape , did a net ton of reading , and study a lot from various interesting people . When COVID lockdown start , I was n’t worried at all because I knew how to programme . "

— u / SirKedyn

5.“I did 12 years in a state institution. The only really strange thing to me was answering the telephone. First off, you don’t receive calls. Second, once the call connects, you can hear them say hello and then a prompt plays letting them know the call is recorded and whatnot before you even say hello.”

" For about a year , people would answer when I call them , and I would wait for the transcription to represent before responding . "

— atomic number 92 / LHDC417

6.“I slept on the floor for 10 years after getting out because the first night (to punish me), guards took away my mattress. So, to spite them, I slept on the floor the whole time.”

" It took a good job and a nice flat for me to eventually sleep on a seam . I have n’t sleep on the story in a tenacious time . "

— uranium / traderboi123

7.“Hypervigilance. I size up everyone everywhere I go, especially on public transport and in public spaces.”

— u / shep_ling

" I had an uncle who was like this before he had passed away . He was in his tardy seventy and drop over a tenner in prison house . You could n’t tapdance him on his shoulder or approach him from behind . He would wrench to you quickly and already have a fist . He also would ' screen ' me by switch a bottle cap on the ground , and if I would look at it , he would recite me , ' See I could have made a move because you were distracted . ' ”

— uranium / enztinkt

a prisoner looking mad

8.“My husband still makes ‘jail snacks.’ He also turns meals into sandwiches because bread was cheap and filling. Spaghetti between bread slices is an example. If we go somewhere like a restaurant, he’s extremely uncomfortable if he doesn’t have his back against a wall, so he can see the room and no one can be behind him. He’s very quick to anger/react if he feels disrespected.”

" I also roll in the hay people who hide item they feel are valuable . Even if they live alone , they hide ' commodities , ' like unspoilt snacks , Crest Whitestrips , etc . "

— u / chut2906

9.“Being entertained doing absolutely nothing, like staring at a wall — I just don’t get bored anymore.”

— u / No - Improvement-6734

" I was put on three months bed rest at the start of 2020 , and I learned this skill . I ’m honestly never bored . Ever . I ’m not someone who ’s really ever been bored much to set about with . I would drop hours suppose about everything and nothing and staring at the trees out my window . Very healing actually . "

— u / mosesthekitten41

a small bed

10.“Flushing before it hits the water on every drop to mitigate the smell everyone has to deal with. Lots of flushes. Work probably wonders what the f**k is going on in the restroom when I’m in there.”

" And universal toilet cleanliness etiquette , so it ’s nice for the next person . I do n’t require to clean up your nastiness ; you do n’t need to clean up mine . It ’s a practiced way to get into it with someone for the dumbest reason . Just leave it overnice . "

— uracil / GRAVITRON_748

" My brother had a arduous time closing the doorway to poop . He said it palpate unearthly to poop alone . "

a prisoner on the phone

— u/-roarnation

11.“My boyfriend was in jail quite some time ago and still holds onto his habits. He washes his clothes in the shower or bathroom sink, he sweeps every morning, he jumps out of bed as soon as he wakes up, he lives pretty minimally, he’s super fit and works out every day, and (he didn’t learn this in jail, but it serves as an example of fitness and self-sufficiency) he rides his bike everywhere.”

" I sometimes have to remind him that he can pamper in luxuries , like using the washing machine or sleep in . "

— u / twinkies_and_wine

12.“I can play Spades a bit better now.”

— uracil / HGMIV926

" Man , I got really good at Spades in there . Played constantly . Had 400 packets of ramen at one point , then people block wanting to play me and my married person . "

— u / chaktahwilly

a prisoner on the phone

13.“Out of jail, I noticed that I had a habit of waiting for some person somewhere to operate a door for me. I wasn’t standing there a long time, but there was a definite pause until I was like, ‘Oh, it’s one of those manual doors; I can do this.'”

" Also , I ’m quite near at hide things and observing the great unwashed — noticing what citizenry are doing . "

— atomic number 92 / throwawaysmetoo

14.“Save every extra sugar packet I come across in case I get hungry between meals.”

— u / cbauser

" I always question myself before I cast off something out . Just finished a travelling bag of chips and I go to fuddle it out — nope , have to think double . Can I use this empty grip for something ? That ’s jail mentality : Never throw anything out unless you ’re absolutely certain you are n’t going to use it . relieve everything . "

— u / piperonyl

a person sleeping on a floor

15.“Ice cubes. Spoon. Soup. Eat it as fast as possible this way. Don’t let someone have the chance to take your soup.”

— u / Elfere

" I eat with my plate tucked between my coat of arms , huddle over it like a trough , shovel it in as fast as possible . "

— atomic number 92 / hungry_hat

two men in a jail cell

16.“If I don’t have dice but need dice, I just get toilet paper and toothpaste. You make basically a macramé paste with them, and then put it on a window corner and rotate it while its drying to keep it level. Boom — dice.”

17.“Flossing. In prison, dental care is rudimentary, and it’s close to impossible to get anything done beyond a filling or a pulling — and getting cleaning done was a super-long waiting list. So, I flossed religiously, because I knew I’d be f**ked if I developed an actual problem in my mouth.”

" divertingly , we did n’t have dental floss after the first few years , because of the possibility that it could be used to make R-2 . So , what we had were ' dental loop , ' which were like weak rubber band that you slue between your tooth for flossing purposes . Anyway , it ’s been almost 20 geezerhood , and I ’m startle to get bad about flossing again , but I was really unspoilt about it for my first 15 year out . "

18.“I learned some new free body workouts that are decent. Picked up pinochle. And I keep commissary recipes in my back pocket in case I’m ever stranded with hot water, a ramen packet, and some Hot Cheetos.”

" And this is not something I still do now , but for like two weeks after getting out ( on more than one occasion ) , I keep leaving the can with the cesspit still on . In jail , they use these combination metal sink / toilet that influence like get-up-and-go - button drinking fountain . You postulate to keep hammering on the button to get water for more than a few bit , and it turn off on its own . "

— u / Nation0fThizzlam

19.“My friend’s ex was in jail, and he apparently learned how to give really good massages. Now, he owns his own massage therapy clinic and employs, like, 30 RMTs (registered massage therapists).”

— u / Fluid - Imagination301

20.“Reading. I read hundreds of books while away.”

" I have n’t even cracked one since I get out , but I do enjoy reading . "

" That ’s where I reckon out how to read for leisure time . Also , how to be meaner in pick - up basketball game game . But the reading substance abuse is probably more useful . "

And finally…

21.“When I go for a walk, I don’t look at people’s house windows or inside other people’s cars. I also don’t look at people when I’m driving — I just notice their car and not who’s driving the car. I once got into a verbal fight with a guy because I looked into his cell. He said you don’t go around looking into people’s house windows and that was his ‘house,’ so why the f**k was I looking in there. Kind of set the pace, and it changed my perspective. Whatever is going on is none of my business.”

" regard is another one . I get the ball sometimes on the internet , but I almost always judge to have respect for everyone , whether I have intercourse them or not , because in prison house obedience was everything . It ’s so odd to this day seeing mass , especially when drunk , be so disrespectful to random people . It get hold of me a class or two to set to the blatant , and now culturally take , disrespect from everyone . They just do n’t get it because there are seldom actual consequences for contempt in your day - to - day living . You might get yelled at or cussed out on some societal medium platform , but 99 % of citizenry have never had to fight down someone over a undivided bright - rear comment . It ’s been 10 old age since I ’ve been out now , but esteem still plays a huge part in my life . "

— uranium / sanct1x

remark : Some responses have been edit for length and/or clarity .

Joey from "Friends" holding a sandwich

the hallway of a jail

a person flushing a toilet

a person handwashing clothing in a sink

a hand of Spades

a person behind bars

sugar packets

a man eating soup

a person's hands throwing dice

someone flossing

a plate of Cheetos

a person's leg being massaged

a person reading

a prisoner being held by the collar