# Going to jail not as big a deterrent as wearing pink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 26, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035 "2006-10-26T22:38:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/21 "2006-10-27T18:09:27Z")
I’ll point out that a criminal record- for something “cool” :rolleyes: - can increase your “street cred” and thus your sales of gansta-rap music. Thus, a little jail time isn’t so bad, but being _made_ to look the fool is. Well, to _that_ subculture, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/22 "2006-10-27T18:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I’ll point out that a criminal record- for something “cool” :rolleyes: - can increase your “street cred” and thus your sales of gansta-rap music. Thus, a little jail time isn’t so bad, but being _made_ to look the fool is. Well, to _that_ subculture, anyway. [/QUOTE] And this is precisely how I understood Sheriff Low’s idea: make jail time as uncool as possible. Maybe it would be even better if they had to wear Care Bears jammies. ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/23 "2006-10-27T19:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] And this is precisely how I understood Sheriff Low’s idea: make jail time as uncool as possible. Maybe it would be even better if they had to wear Care Bears jammies. [/QUOTE] Oh, I love that idea. They should be the kind with the feet attached and the snap-flap in back. 😃 “Time out, mister!” ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/24 "2006-10-27T19:45:52Z")
From Reservoir Dogs, the authoritative source. > [@](#): > > Joe: Mr. Brown, Mr. White, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Orange, and Mr. Pink. > Mr. Pink: Why am I Mr. Pink? > Joe: Because you’re a faggot, alright? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/25 "2006-10-27T19:51:55Z")
[QUOTE=XaMcQ] I swear to Og, in my hometown there is a business that orders _purple ink pens_ for use by the public, because they get stolen much less often. I assume if they went with pink ones, some people would just flat out refuse to use them, lest the gay cooties get on them and infect them. [/QUOTE] I used to work for a not-for-profit that made pens for the government (Skilcraft brand). When we introduced pens with purple ink, it swiftly became our hottest selling item. Most purchasing persons for the government are women, and our marketing surveys said they were the ones buying the purple ink pens. Pink ink we tested, but it was too faint and so illegible. But there was interest in them. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/26 "2006-10-27T20:08:12Z")
[QUOTE=black rabbit] I’ve gotta say, living in what can be euphamistically called a “historic urban neighborhood,” that being forced to wear pink [isn’t as big a deterrent as you might think](http://www.eatliver.com/gangsta/). [/QUOTE] Those dawgs are so fly. Man. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/27 "2006-10-27T20:10:55Z")
By a huge coincidence, I’ve been to the Mason jail. My nephew was locked up there for about 4-6 months for possession of marijuana. The article doesn’t do the place justice, it’s a _tiny_ jail, the second oldest jail still in use in Texas. It’s an old stone building on the outside, and the cells are this little metal room set apart from the walls up on the second floor, like a building within a building. The only place you could really paint are the little common areas downstairs where the inmates eat or cook or have visits. It’s a quaint little place to visit, but I can think of a dozen different jails I’d rather do my time in. Not only that, the local judge and DA hand out time like candy. My nephew had to do several months more than he would have had to in most other counties for the same offense. It’s also a really, really small community (think Mayberry), so anyone who sees them outside is probably someone they’ve known all their lives, and (like many who went to high school together) will mock them mercilessly for any reason possible. Not much else to do in a small town. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035/28 "2006-10-29T16:38:27Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] I’ll point out that a criminal record- for something “cool” :rolleyes: - can increase your “street cred” and thus your sales of gansta-rap music. Thus, a little jail time isn’t so bad, but being _made_ to look the fool is. Well, to _that_ subculture, anyway. [/QUOTE] ``` When young and impressionable would be thugs are watching the movies where the gangsters are planning the next robbery in prison before their release but are wearing pink instead of pretty cool denims ,the hero worship factor may be diminished a tad,also escaped prisoners on the run would be spotted much more easily. ``` [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-to-jail-not-as-big-a-deterrent-as-wearing-pink/378035.md?page=1)