A MAN who was sent to prison in the 1970s is sharing details about his startling re-entry into modern society, having been locked away for 44 years of his life. Otis Johnson was 25 when he went to prison for the attempted murder of a police officer, and was just released last summer at the age of 69. After serving his time, re-entry into modern society was a challenge. The newly free senior let an Al Jazeera English camera crew follow him around New York, where he’s had to adjust many things that Americans take for granted, like endless food options, technology, and exponentially higher prices. He marveled at the technology all around him. When he noticed that pretty much every person he saw was wearing “wires in their ears,” it was an incredibly confusing and unusual sight. He also wondered how everyone managed to get around without looking up from their devices. He is still learning about all of the new “crazy stuff” at the grocery store. “There’s so many things that you can eat. So it’s a hard choice to pick out really the food that you want.” Even a simple snack threw him for a loop. “Peanut butter and jelly in the same place in a jar? That was strange.” When Johnson began his lengthy sentence in 1975, the first personal computer had just made an appearance as a kit. Apple had not yet been founded, there were just three major television channels, and the Internet was still several years away from its invention.(SD-Agencies) Last summer, he got out. The prison gave him his ID, US$40 and two bus tickets before sending him on his way. Johnson says he was “mainly alone,” but luckily connected with Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization in Harlem that offers housing and other services to former prisoners. He spends his nights there — always getting back in time for a 9 p.m. curfew — and spends time during the day attending religious services, meditating, and practicing tai chi. “Prison affected me a lot,” he says. “My re-entry was a little bit hard at first because things had changed.” (SD-Agencies) | 