An ex-prisoner has revealed why you should always knock before entering the cell of another inmate, and - to be honest - there are a few reasons.
Jesse Crosson knows about this after spending 19 years in prison for his crimes.
Nowadays, he shares his insight into rehabilitation, justice, and prison life with his followers on TikTok.
Always knock before entering - show some respect
In one video, Jesse - @second_chancer on TikTok - shared with his 1.4 million followers one of the cardinal rules that you simply can’t break when you are incarcerated.
After all, prison can be a dangerous place and full of dangerous people, so you have to keep your wits about you.
There is also a strict code that must be followed in most facilities - this rule is probably one that fits across the board.
Explaining his take on matters, Jesse said: “One of the rules in prison is [that] you don’t look in somebody else’s cell.
“So if you are walking down the the tier you don’t just turn and look in as you go by, if you are going to talk to somebody you knock on the door and then you look away.”
That seems to be a crucial bit of information right there.
He continued: “Until they say ‘yo’ or ‘what’s up’, then you can stick your face in there, open the door, and talk to them.”
OK, so far so simple - but why?
Crosson continued: “One of the reasons is respect, because you have so little space and so little privacy that you are going to respect that person’s space.
“You allow that to be their space without invading it.”
There is another very important reason you should knock
Of course, you’ve probably figured out some of the other reasons that it would be a good idea to knock the door first before entering.
Jesse continued: “The other reason is that you have no idea what you are going to walk into.
“You might see two people committing a crime, or an act of violence, or an act of sex."
“Most guys will put a towel or a sheet up on the door to let you know - first of all - don’t even come knock, we’re doing something, but some people were notorious for it.
“We had a guy at Nottoway [correction centre in Virginia] who ran a store box and people would always come to his cell and he would always be doing things with his cell partner.
“He would never put anything over the door so people would be up [like] ‘yoyo, let me get some cookies’ and then they would realize what was going on and be like ‘nah, I’m good, like, I’ll come back later’.
“It was just an awkward situation to walk in on two people being intimate and then one of them wants to hand you a pack of cookies.”
Yep, that’s reason enough.
So, if you ever find yourself inside for whatever reason - and we hope you don’t - remember to always knock before entering.
You never know what is coming on the other side of that door.