Regardless of what others believe, Stewart does not think her stay at the prison was a piece of cake. During an interview with Katie Couric (via The Things), Stewart related that “It was horrifying, and no one – no one – should have to go through that kind of indignity, really, except for murderers…It’s a very, very awful thing.”
During her stay, she recalled cleaning toilets. (16 years later, Stewart published the “The Ultimate Guide to Cleaning a Toilet,” on her website, Martha Stewart, but the piece makes no mention of the publisher’s toilet-cleaning days. She also abhorred the lack of privacy and felt people were kicking her while she was down due to her being the butt of the numerous jokes.
Another woman, Evie Litwok, who was incarcerated at the same prison in 2010 shared Stewart’s sentiments, that the prison was no “Camp Cupcake.” According to Talk Poverty, Litwok, then 60, wrote at one point that her job was to sweep the streets at the camp. “At an age where working a physically demanding job for seven- and eight-hour days was grueling, I served as the Sisyphus of Alderson, sweeping rocks off the street only to see my work undone by passing vehicles.” She also stated that after work, between lunch and dinner, they could not return to their units. She wrote, “We were not allowed to read, do crossword puzzles, knit, play cards, or sleep. Instead, everyone had to spend long hours in plastic seats attached to the table.”
