I Know I’m Not One of Them Because…

To me books and magazines have words, not just pictures.

I judge people by the respect they show for others, not by the color of their skin, or religion, or reproductive organs.

I go to sleep at night, and wake-up at seven each morning, rather than sleeping my life away, staying up till two a.m. yelling back and forth to others. 

I am interested in Picasso, not the Forty-Niners.

I live in a clean cell no matter what.  They provide "cell clean-up" three times a week.  A small broom, dust pan, and a rag.  I hear the cop walk by the row of cells and no one stops him to request the broom.  Only me.  I could eat off the floor in my cell (and not just an expression.)

I wanted to hear the tape of President Clinton's Grand Jury testimony, and not the Yankees or the World Series.

I do not curse at people, call them names, or put them down.

I eat vegetables, not fried Jack Mackerel.

All my sneakers need to be are comfortable, not fashion statements.

I know the proper word is "please" not "gimmie".

I follow the bulls and bears, not the Bulls and the Knicks. 

I know there is no such word as "mines" - as in, "Make sure you bring mines to the yard!"

When The Freak was banging on the radiator for hours and hours deliberately to keep me awake and annoy everyone, I would never be discourteous in response.  There were times, after ten hours of non-stop senseless banging, when I felt like kicking the shit out of that radiator and screaming, but I didn't.  I would think about Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.  "That's right.  Give in to your hate," said the Emperor.  "Strike me down and complete your transformation to the Dark Side."  Luke tosses down his light saber declaring, "I'll never turn to the dark side."  That's me:  I'll never become one of them.