I have a brother in jail, heading to prison. (He is a drug addict & alcoholic.) He keeps asking me to send him care packages.
I did this in the past, when he was in jail before, and he kept asking for more. It was adding up to $120 a month. I know for some of you that doesn't sound like a lot, but where I live, that's a car payment on a used car or 1/4 of a mortgage payment.
Later, I found out he was still managing to use drugs in jail, so I suspect he was trading the items in the care packages I sent for drugs.
I do not want to send any more care packages.
He keeps asking for them, though. In his last letter, he claimed he is hungry a lot of the time (in the past, he told me the jail fed him well) and says he owes some other inmates some goodies. (I never promised him I would start sending care packages again, so why he would borrow from other inmates and assume he could pay them back is a bit of a mystery. Apparently he assumed I would always be a sucker.)
I guess my question is, how do I handle this? Do I tell him in a letter that I will not be sending any more care packages? Do I just ignore his requests and expect that he will catch on eventually? Do I offer an explanation as to why? (I have many reasons; I just feel like it would just start an argument, plus, why do I have to explain to a convict how I, a working, productive member of society will choose to spend my $?)
What would you do?
Be kind, please. I know I've been a sucker!
Read more: Buying care packages for someone in jail/prison?
