Could I cope? Sure. As others have said, it isn’t a contest if the alternative is being in prison. Assuming whatever I’d done didn’t cause my wife to leave me, I’m sure I could live pretty comfortably, as she’d probably be willing to get food for me on occasion from places that won’t deliver (our delivery options are a little sad).
As for earning a living, 90% of my current job is done over a computer anyway, so if I hadn’t offended my firm, I might be able to just keep working from home without any difficulty. I’m guessing I’d be taking a pay cut, but since my entertainment expenses would go way down, that shouldn’t be difficult to compensate for.
All that being said, I need to get outside once in a while, so the idea of being completely confined would drive me crazy. I do have a nice deck on the back of the house, and I’m assuming that I’d be able to at least relax on that at my whim. I’m guessing I’d do that as often as the weather allowed.
Nope. I’ve had a knee injury so spent all of Thursday at home, Friday at the office then straight home, Saturday at home. It’s now Sunday and I’m going stir crazy.
I think I could be quite happy with the deal suggested by the OP. I live alone anyway, and am fairly unsociable. Am retired, so “how to earn a living” would be moot. I quite often go for a day or two now, without leaving the house. No interest in gardens / gardening: being forbidden the garden, would be no problem.
I’d hope that the OP’s hypothetical, concerns a sentence of a finite period, rather than “for life” *; but even if it were lifelong, I think I could cope without feeling suicidal. And, much preferable to prison – which, if I’m right, has been the opinion of all PPs who have mentioned this aspect.
*Looking back, I see that the OP has answered this: “Years”.
Can someone periodically come take my 4 year old off for an afternoon in the park? I really, really couldn’t make it trapped in the house with him: we’d be going different kinds of crazy.
And I’d lose the house/start getting hungry within a year or so, as savings ran out–especially since groceries would be a lot more expensive. I could maybe do some college counseling, but it’d be hard to do it out of my house.
Nope, I’d quickly lose my mind. I’m job hunting right now and the amount of home time is already about to put me over the edge, add in not being outside at all and the idea gives me the willies.
My initial thought was, “OOH HELL YES!” but then I remembered one day of the week I have to take my daughter to two therapies and a social skills group, and I’d hate to pawn the job off on someone else just because I broke the law.
I rarely leave the house as it is, and my room and board is covered through work I do for my roommates. It wouldn’t be much different, save for that Monday flurry of activity.
I thought people on house arrest were allowed to go outside as long as they stayed on their property, and were also allowed to leave for work, doctor’s appointments, food shopping, and a few other necessary things, although they have time and distance limits.
It probably varies - certainly, medical care could not be denied in the US, and if the doctor won’t come to you then you must go to the doctor. But if you live with family you may not be allowed to leave for any other reason, under the assumption the other household members could do the shopping and such.
Yes, that’s the other thing about this house arrest stuff. Sure, I can spend time with my family, but not be there for them in any way outside of the house. That would be a real bummer. It’s the straight and narrow for me!
I’m not sure. I’d like to think it would be no problem - I live alone and seem to spend all my time reading, browsing, contemplating. Recently I realized one Monday morning that I hadn’t said one word to another person (even over the phone) since the previous Friday. But I do like to spontaneously go out and catch a movie - alone often, and sometimes I have the same urge to go shopping. Just to wander through a supermarket and pick up bits and pieces to create a meal. And spending every night at home alone doing stuff is very different if on most days you’ll be in the office tomorrow. So even with what seems like good acclimatization I’m not sure how long I’d last.
It depends. I have dealt with a few people who were specifically restricted to stay indoors at their residences. But most of those on 24/7 home restriction were simply required to stay on the property, indoors or out. At least they could do some yard work to pass the time.
And in my experience it is necessary with some to verify their claims of medical appointments. Sure the system shows them at the hospital, but it doesn’t verify what they are doing at the hospital.
How does employment normally work in real cases of house arrest? With regular probation or parole, the person is normally allowed to leave their home and even travel out of town as long as they stay in the state. Are house arrestees expected to get work-at-home jobs? Are they expected to pay for everything with no job? Do they get welfare?
I would have no problem with the mechanics of house arrest, not leaving the house and getting all my shopping delivered is not much of a chore. I’ve no idea how I’d earn money though, it’s hard enough finding a job when I’m prepared to travel 20 miles for minimum wage.