The Stress of Visiting Prisons
Licensed to deliver visitors to all 42 state prisons sites, California Touch of Class follows a regular circuit, presently making 10 widely scattered stops. Outings typically last from the earliest hours of morning until evening. Depending on the prison location, north, south or east, pickup-stops are made between 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. at various communities in Greater Los Angeles. Return times vary from about 5 in the afternoon until 8:30, making it an exceedingly long day for women traveling with children, small or otherwise. Not to mention the extreme stress of hooking up with a loved one while worrying about adhering to an imposing stack of rigid rules. An exacting list of don’ts and musts, governing clothing, behavior, carry-on paraphernalia and mandatory prison requirements, is provided by Mr. Evans’ bus company. Color of clothing is crucial. A visitor learns quickly that shading and style are paramount. Among the excluded articles of clothing are jeans of any color, dark brown pants, camouflage-pattern clothes, light blue shirts or sweatpants, gray sweats, forest-green clothing of any kind, wigs, weaves and braids.
A Few More Rules
In addition to keeping their children in line at an hour when the rest of the world is asleep, mothers are told that every state prison lists four musts among possessions that can be brought inside:
- 1 clear bag.
- $30 cash, only in single dollar bills and/or quarters.
- Photo identification.
- In the case of babies, mothers must carry a clear diaper bag.
Discounts for seniors and small children are factored into the bus company’s standard roundtrip price of $60.
Postscript
For a gentleman of considerable stature and accomplishment, Nathaniel Evans comes to work as an ordinary citizen. Casual and comfortable in a baseball cap, striped polo shirt and an accessible smile, he presides over a small efficient, experienced office. His working quarters, on the grounds of the California Touch of Class bus yard, are in the heart of the city, at the intersection of South Central and Slauson. No child, no matter how precocious, ever has been known to say that when he grows up, he wants to provide reasonably priced bus transportation for the far-off families of inmates in state prisons. The idea came to Mr. Evans much later, after he had discovered the Church of Abundant Joy in Inglewood. This, as you shall see, is a separate story.
Next: Nathaniel Evans (at 1.800.298.7283) describes the winding path — with a happy ending — that led him to the intersection of South Central Avenue and Slauson.
