Walking the Aisles Because I Can
Almost a year after prison, Ryan Nichols walks Walmart just because he can, and tells anyone who did time to go out with an open mind and try it.
By Ryan Nichols
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On Sunday night, October 12, 2025, I left Bubba's 33 in Longview and stopped at Walmart. Not to buy anything. Just to walk around.
"I'm doing something that I haven't done in years, five years, six years, seven years."
Years I can't get back
Here's what hit me in that store. "I realize I have disassociated so hard that I've forgotten weeks, months, and in some cases like years of my life."
That's not a figure of speech. That's what prolonged solitary confinement did to me. You stop being around people. You stop doing normal things. And then one day you notice how long it's been.
Walking the aisles because I can
"So tonight I just stopped in Walmart just to walk down the aisles because I can."
"It's crazy that it's taken ten and a half months." It was "almost a year post prison for me to just decide I'm gonna go into Walmart and walk around."
"That's a testament to the effects of prolonged solitary confinement."
If you've done time, try it
This one is for anybody who has been where I've been. "If you're somebody that's been in prolonged solitary confinement, that's been in prison for a long time, that has had to do any amount of time away from your family, your business, the people that you love."
"With an open mind, go out to a restaurant, sit down even by yourself in a nice environment."
Then walk into a store and look around. "I can look at an aisle full of towels or an aisle full of food and it be there available. Try it."
Rebuilding doesn't start with something big. Sometimes it starts with walking down an aisle.
What I said (RYAN STATEMENT)
- "I've forgotten weeks, months, and in some cases like years of my life."
- "I'm doing something that I haven't done in years, five years, six years, seven years."
- "I just stopped in Walmart just to walk down the aisles because I can."
- "That's a testament to the effects of prolonged solitary confinement."
- "With an open mind, go out to a restaurant, sit down even by yourself in a nice environment."
- "I can look at an aisle full of towels or an aisle full of food and it be there available. Try it."
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