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We often hear about criminals reoffending once they are released from prison and that makes us believe that people don’t change. But prison is an environment that definitely changes people, whether it is for better or worse.

The inmates have to follow a lot of strict rules and they have a completely different lifestyle there. They might be locked up for several years or even decades, so they must get used to it and view it as normal. It would be interesting to know which of the habits inmates acquired in jail they continued to practice, whether willingly or not.

Conveniently, Reddit user youknowyoulick asked that question and the thread received nearly 4k comments. In this list, you will find the ones that people found most intriguing or surprising.

More info: Reddit

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#1

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community My friends baby daddy was in jail, apparently learned how to give really good massages. Now owns his own massage therapy clinic and employs like 30 RMT’s

Fluid-Imagination301 , gaelx Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love how he turned his life for the better by using his experiences in prison to open up a business. Hands down the best comeback story on here

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#2

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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.

kindalikeacoustic , S B Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

While this is basic manners, from the OP's post it seems like he was never like this. It's good that he learnt this lesson but I feel sad about how he learnt it

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#3

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community There was a guy I knew in prison who converted to Islam while he was in there. He would never swear, so instead of "m**********r" he'd say "motherflower" and I still say it. It's actually been a bit of a conversation starter and I have friends who've started saying it too. That man, probably still in prison, has no idea he's a trend-setter.

Sweet-Palpitation473 , Rob Mitchell Report

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#4

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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, its 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 time in a responsible and productive way. In the simplest terms its making a schedule and sticking to it; deciding how to fill that empty day with activities that serve your goals. During my time inside I got in great shape, did a ton of reading, and learned a lot from various interesting people. When Covid Lockdowns began I wasn't worried at all because I knew how to Program.

SirKedyn , John Fowler Report

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Laura Binns
Laura Binns
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love this. Also good for when you're trying to stop drinking or eating because you're bored.

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#5

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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 what not before you then say hello. For about a year people would answer when I call them and I would wait for the recording to play before responding.

LHDC417 , gabohalili Report

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dream of delusion
dream of delusion
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i’m sure might’ve been awkward a few times… “hello! …. ……..are you there?”

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#6

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Reading

r00tk1ll3r , gurmit singh Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is one of the better skills I've come across on this page

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#7

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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 know people who hide items they feel are valuable. Even if they live alone, they hide "commodities" like good snacks, Crest Whitestrips, etc.

chut2906 , Jonathan Rolande Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's sad that they feel they have to hoard food. I've seen so many posts like this in this page

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#8

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Former prison librarian. I learned to always look in window reflections to make sure my back was covered. I had to count inmates as they came into the library so that there weren't too many people. I can look in a room full of people and give a really accurate estimate of how many bodies are in a room because of this.

mindfulminx , Bruce Guenter Report

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#9

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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 general toilet cleanliness etiquette so it’s nice for the next person. I don’t want to clean up your nastiness, you don’t want to clean up mine. It’s a good way to get into it with someone for the dumbest reason. Just leave it nice.

Edit: There are people being downvoted below for comments about water conversation. They are not wrong, this is wasteful. To be clear, I was not advocating many flushes. I was just answering the question honestly about what stuck with me.

I do advocate the cleanliness part tho. Do that.

To avoid wasting water there are environmentally friendly before-you-go sprays that create a scented oily slick on the water’s surface that mask and trap smells beneath the surface pretty well. Then you only need minimal flushing. I’d suggest looking into that for work/office/communal restroom situations.

Problem is they don’t have that inside, and if I have to choose between flushing a few times, or trying to explain why the smell is good for everyone because I’m saving the planet and we should all be happy about that instead of pissed at me…

Could I lose the habit now? Sure.

GRAVITRON_748 , Marco Verch Professional Photographer Report

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Sophie
Sophie
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Despite the fact that it takes so much water to ship potty potpourri, let alone the facilities, etc., there are so so many worse ways to waste water. Flush twice if it feels right. Better for the plumbing.

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#10

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Mentally practicing music. I am a guitarist/bassist and wrote many songs without the use of a guitar.

Formal_Cow_8084 , Brad Montgomery Report

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#11

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 apartment for me to finally sleep on a bed. I haven't slept on the floor in a long time.

traderboi123 Report

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IDK_Something
IDK_Something
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This "punishment" infuriates me!! The ending is good, however.

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#12

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Made a habit of addressing something that could potentially become a problem. Harshly and immediately. Currently trying to drop the harsh part.

Apart_Advantage6256 , Pedro Ribeiro Simões Report

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cat?
cat?
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i’m glad that you were able to recognize the unhealthy part of your habit and work on it, good for you :)

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#13

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 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 everyday, 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 indulge in luxuries like using the washing machine or sleeping in.

twinkies_and_wine , Martin Monroe Report

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#14

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Out of juvie I had a habit of being quick to aggression....which seems like the opposite of what the goal of juvie systems should be...

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 them manual doors, I can do this".

Also, I'm quite good at hiding things (no, not up my a*s, you a*s fanatics). Over here trying to find my weed again.

Also, observing people, noticing what people are doing.

throwawaysmetoo , Enrico Razzetti Report

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#15

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Save every extra sugar packet I come across in case I get hungry between meals

cbauser , Cathy Stanley-Erickson Report

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Nathaniel
Nathaniel
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is this more to do with poverty or something? Childhood with neglect to cause this?

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#16

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Friend worked in a bad prison for 10+ years.

Said he become immune to s**t talk.

Nothing, literally nothing, could p**s him off or make him emotional or unbalanced.

In regards to triggers and s**t talk, he reached nirvana

Maleficent-Number-10 , in0_m0x0 Report

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Jef Bateman
Jef Bateman
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Worked with a guy who had the opposite response to time in prison. He came out thinking everything you said was a veiled insult of some sort. Sample dialogue, "Robby, do you still have that spade drill bit?" "Why wouldn't have it? What would I have done with it? Huh? Huh?" He was also deranged by drugs, so I'm not sure prison is 100% to blame.

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#17

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Hypervigilant. Size up everyone everywhere I go. Especially public transport and public spaces.

shep_ling , Les Infill Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think many people do this regardless of whether they went to prison or not. It's better to be safe than sorry

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#18

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community My bedroom is basically set up like my old cell.
In my bedroom I have everything at arms length.
I sit with my back to the wall when I'm out.
I still pace back and forth in small spaces.

ieatassfordays , PseudoDude Report

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Max M
Max M
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never been in jail, but i will try to sit anywhere with my back at the wall and sits at the end of benches, so i only have people at the one side. I don't like sitting between people.

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#19

Never talk to police period about anything

Vzdubz Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate how the police system is just brutal these days. Police are supposed to make things better for the public. They are supposed to make us trust them with any problems and they are supposed to solve them. I hate how we all fear the thing that was created to maintain law and order and keep us safe.

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#20

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community The dorm pod I was in had metal stairs that made loud noises when you walked down them. Almost got in a fight with 3 other people because I woke up at night and had to p**s and woke everyone up.

To this day I can't fall asleep without peeing immediately before laying down. Like, even if I went less than an hour earlier I have to stand there and focus with yogi-like intensity to squeeze a few drops out or I lay awake feeling like my bladder is full.

StubisMcGee , Yuya Tamai Report

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Robert T
Robert T
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't like having to get up in the night, so I do this too. At my age, I'm lucky if I can get through to 6am without having to go again. LOL

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#21

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Being entertained doing absolutely nothing like staring at a wall I just don’t get bored anymore

No-Improvement-6734 , Celeste Report

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Autumn Artemis
Autumn Artemis
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Obsessive daydreaming. I swear I’m not crazy I’ve just been staring unblinkingly at the window for an hour because I just thought of a really obscure and random scenario that I am now trying to create a story out of. Also there was a bird and now I’m writing mental poetry.

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#22

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Hey, it's not just people who were in jail but people who worked there too. I haven't worked in a jail in decades but I still use mirrors and reflections to look around corners everywhere.

count_frightenstein , Paul Keller Report

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#23

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community If i dont have dice but want dice and have toilet paper and toothpaste. You make basically a macramé paste with them and put it into a window corner, rotate it while its drying to keep it level. Boom dice.

alaskaguyindk , James Bowe Report

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#24

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community I became a stoner and developed long term problems with food. I also started compulsively buying books because when I didn’t have a book in solitary it was hard to stay sane and calm. I’m far less talkative and social than I used to be.

aryeh86 , Marina Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Prison systems need to be changed completely. While it works for some people, others just get even worse than they were before. Punishment should improve a person, fix the mistakes, not screw them up even more

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#25

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community is patience a habit?

glitchmagnet93 , José Miguel S Report

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#26

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community I eat with my plate tucked between my arms, huddled over it like a trough, shoveling it in as fast as possible.

hungry_hat , alljengi Report

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#27

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Mind my business

avalonian422 , Mari Dallavara Report

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#28

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Never been but I saw this same Q on here and one take away I have is the shower squeegee.

After you shower you use your hands like a squeegee blade and it removes 75% of the water off you.

Now your towel isn't wet at the end, its damp

canehdian78 , Jaysin Trevino Report

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Vicky Verz
Vicky Verz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I do this. Makes drying the towels easier if they aren't too wet in the first place.

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#29

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community well my brother had a hard time closing the door to poop he said it felt weird to poop alone

-roarnation , dianaconnolly101 Report

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#30

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community I can play Spades a bit better now

HGMIV926 , Quinn Dombrowski Report

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#31

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Not reaching over somebody's food.

acidphosphate69 , Jonathan Rees Report

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#32

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community 3 Michelin Star Ramen Meals

OLDSCHOOLGG , edkohler Report

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#33

Stand up for myself, even if the other guy is bigger and stronger. Once you show you're a b***h once, you're always going to be a b***h to everyone. Better to get punched in the face and take it like a man, even if you ultimately lose the fight. This may not work for everyone though. They say I've got good chin.

thedanimal722 Report

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Random Anon
Random Anon
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It works, though I hate that it does. Back in school, after putting two "gangsta" guys in the hospital, myself along, my life changed. I was the kid most people would mistake for a girl. But it seems those watching were convinced I was going to kill them both. I don't remember much of it and was told after, I just went nuts at one until he went limp and then went to work on the other until he too went down. By the end, it was really bloody and I passed out walking towards a tap. Their parents weren't happy but because their shenanigans were known by the police, it's either we all go to juvie or no one does. They chose the latter.

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#34

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Ice cubes. Spoon. Soup. Eat it as fast as possible this way. Don't let someone have the chance to take your soup

Elfere , Muhammad Ashiq Report

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ellagbailey42 avatar
cat?
cat?
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

can someone explain this one? i don’t understand “ice cubes. spoon. soup. eat it as fast as possible this way.”

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#35

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Cheapest, best way for a single guy to eat, and all the stuff you need is so much cheaper on the outs, compared to buying it on commissary!!

wood49 , Phillip Stewart Report

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#36

30 Unexpected Habits People Learnt In Jail And Still Do In Their Everyday Life, As Shared In This Online Community Wipe the toilet with toilet paper after I pee (even with the seat up). For years I used to wipe the sink with toilet paper every time I used it.

--malcolm , Carlos ZGZ Report

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