How you see me inside these walls
no no
no no stay seated stay seated hi
um my name is rick i’ve been uh i’ve
been a stand-up comic for the last 11
years or so
that’s one of the reasons why they asked
me to come here today another reason
they asked me to come here is that for
the last 15 years i’ve been an officer
in the department of corrections
13 of which at this facility so when
they asked me to do this i
accepted right away and then i asked
them what the theme
the topic was for the for this event and
they told me healthy living
so i was like well i had a good run um
thanks thanks anyways but then they told
me healthy living was acceptable and i
was like well i’ve been
mentally health that also accounts for
that so i was like you know what i’ve
been faking that for years i can do that
for at least four more minutes
so here you might notice i’m not in
uniform today um i didn’t wear uniform
today for a lot of reasons
one i’m on vacation until the 23rd so
i’m not gonna wear that thing whatsoever
two i don’t have any clean laundry and i
won’t probably until the 22nd
so that’s another reason and the main
reason
is that i don’t want to be seen like
that today i want to i want to try and
illustrate that we don’t have to be
the people that everyone sees us as when
we’re behind these walls
everyone who’s in here right now
everyone who walks around today
we all have preconceived notions laid
upon us from the minute we walk in here
like the way officers look at inmates
the way inmates look at officers the way
we all look at each other the way we
look at our own kind
and that’s like and being an officer you
know correction officer in this day and
age
the media paints us a certain way all
the time you know we’re either
they paint us as either like sadistic
apathetic
you know like mean like porn stash and
orange is the new black like that kind
of a person
or the other side of that coin is that
they try and paint us as like
you know lazy overweight out of shape
never mind let’s keep moving on
let’s go let’s uh
let’s go past that a little bit
but we all have our own things going on
you know like people there’s everyone’s
got their own thing going for them like
i’m
a you know i’m a father i’m a comic i’m
a writer i’m a husband
i’m a drinking buddy i’m you know i’m in
the bill’s mafia for life i you know i
have
that’s right that’s right
i’m going to jump through a table when
i’m done with this just uh
just make it but you know what i mean i
can be sarcastic i can be a jerk you
know what i mean that’s just the way it
is
and we all have our own things going on
you know we all have our own
things about us that we have to try and
put out there and it’s
it’s hard you know i mean it’s hard to
not be seen in that light
you know it’s hard to not be seen as you
know a guard
a co a criminal an inmate a murder a
drug dealer you know what i mean like
getting past that
is what we have to do in order to
just to survive you know what i mean and
it seems impossible
but it’s not like you know i mean that
word impossible that’s the problem
is that we least waste a lot of our
lives
thinking about what’s possible and
what’s not and thinking that things are
impossible and the word impossible
that’s with the walls
that are built around us that we build
ourselves it’s not impossible
like 15 years and 100 pounds ago like i
would have thought
like i thought it was impossible to do
25 years in this department like
the end was out of sight it was
impossible
you know now it’s you know it’s
impossible to lose weight if you’re
divorced you think yourself it’s
impossible to meet somebody else it’s
gonna be impossible to fall in love
again
you know it’s going to be impossible to
not be seen as
that criminal you don’t mean to not be
seen as weak to not be seen as
you know you mean you tried your best to
not be seen as just a wife you know what
you mean like there’s a lot of things to
to overcome and that’s and that’s the
problem and those things that we do
those are the walls we build inside our
head and
your will to try and become a better
person like that’s
what you can use to try and break down
these walls and stand on top of the
rubble you know what i mean to be better
because these walls these walls are
around us all the time not just the ones
outside of this building
but the ones in our heads you know what
i mean we’re in the you’re in the
shadows of those walls no matter where
you are
you could be in here you could be on the
ride home and those walls are around you
you know what you mean unless you
try and overcome what these walls are
there’s no way to like feel the breeze
on the other side to see how green the
grass is you know and that’s the thing
that we have to try and we have to try
and be better
in our own heads and that’s the only way
through it that’s the only way like
you’re will to be a better person
that’s the bulldozer you know you mean
that you need to knock down these walls
now i want you all to keep in mind this
is a metaphorical bulldozer i don’t want
to be held responsible for some
sort of an elaborate bulldozer escape
plan that happens here
that’s not what i want to have here um
now for you guys in here that live here
you guys that are locked up
you guys i mean let’s be honest like i
might
you know i should just say it out loud
the deck is stacked against you guys
from the minute you know we put
a sweater on you in jeans and send you
on the bus you know what i mean it’s
it’s hard out there you know what i mean
but it’s not impossible it’s just hard
to try and get a job in a place that
doesn’t trust you
you know what i mean to try and like get
a footing in a world that doesn’t want
you you know what i mean to try and
make a competitive wage at a job that
like you they know that you need them
more than they need you
you know what i mean but and is that
impossible no it’s just
you’ve got to have that that will to get
past it
and that’s what this is you know what i
mean that’s what all of this is that’s
you need to be ready that’s what you’re
training for now every day when you wake
up
you know what i mean because you don’t
have to be the person you were when you
got locked up
you don’t have to be the person you were
yesterday you can wake up tomorrow
and realize that that guy yesterday was
a jerk you know what i mean
and then you can change and that will to
change that’s how you can overcome this
that will to be a better person that
will to
just make a difference in yourself
because that’s where it has to start you
know i mean you can try and change the
world as much as you want
but it’s got to start locally you know
it’s got to start locally as in in your
own head in your own mind in your own
sense of being and that’s uh that’s the
only way we’re gonna get through this
like nothing’s impossible
you know what i mean unless you’re
trying to get a phone call out of me on
an off night then that’s just not gonna
happen i’m just not
i’m just not gonna do it and that’s
honestly all i have for you guys today
i’m gonna keep it breathing thank you
very much and have a good day