doing time

The past two times I have ridden the Greyhound bus from Springfield, Illinois, I have shared the bus with a few recently released residents of the state penitentiary. You can tell by the Department of Corrections van in the parking lot and the fact that all the guys are wearing white shirts, grey sweatpants, and shoes without shoestrings.

Yesterday's bunch had a sense of humor. We were at a layover in Bloomington, IL. I walked past the state pen group sitting at a table and one asks me,

"You been in the joint? Where's your white shirt?"

I replied that I hadn't been in the joint, and the guy next to him says,

"Nah, look at her. She doesn't look like she's been in the joint."

And then they wished me a good trip and went back to chatting about something else.