Otis Johnson was 25 years old when he was convicted for attempted murder. After completing his 44-year sentence, he was released in 2014 at the age of 69.
As expected, a lot had shifted during the four-plus decades he was behind bars.
"Prison affected me a lot, and my re-entry was a little bit hard at first because things had changed," he told Al Jazeera English.
Things that are now second nature in society, like talking on a cell phone while walking, took Johnson by complete surprise. Similarly to the senior couple who couldn't understand how to use a webcam, Johnson couldn't quite get a grasp of this new technology.
"Some people are not even looking where they’re going. So I’m trying to figure out how people do that, control themselves to walk and talk on the phone without even looking where they’re going," he said. "So that was amazing to me."
Aside from the technological advances, even a walk through the supermarket was a new experience for Johnson, because of the wide range of unfamiliar choices.
And while he's getting used to this new world, Johnson follows a powerful and inspirational ideology that helps him live a full life outside of prison, as you’ll see at the end of the clip.
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