PRISON PURCHASING AGENTS

They select the most worthless of pencils and other writing instruments. Recently they found an even more worthless pencil to sell for more money. It is the "Berol" eagle #2, They used to sell "State of Oklahoma" pencils, which they give to their bureaucrats and sell to other state agencies. They were serviceable, cheaper and easier to tooth and fingernail sharpen. (Sharpeners are sold separately at $1.80/two (minimum purchase) with a $7 shipping/handling charge, plus postage out.) Prison torture-scientists discovered the Berol pencil becomes dull almost immediately, requires constant sharpening and can be sold at a higher price. Pens sold in the prison here at McAlester are so worthless that they are sold with a "No Guarantee!" caveat. They sell a 75¢ pilot pen that seldom works. They used to sell cheap papermates that would write, usually, for $2.50, but would run out of ink quickly. They soon found that they could sell bics for 37¢ that have a failure rate of almost 50%! Imagine having to buy 2 or 3 pens to obtain one that might write. Both bics and papermates are good pens when bought in stores. Somehow prison purchasing agents are able to buy factory seconds or repackaged returned-defective pens. Either way they deliberately make writing as arduous as possible while appearing to fulfill minimum requirements