The guard (or correctional officer) Fischer (played by Lauren Lapkus) meets Piper when she is doing maintenance, and they start talking. Fischer admits during that conversation, that it could have been her in there, instead of Piper. She just was lucky when she “made bad choices”. I guess that I am CO Fischer. I was lucky when I made bad choices in adolescence. In fact, I basically wasn’t in school for over a year, and no one reacted in a manner that made any difference. During that time, I partly lived on the streets, I stole stuff, I shoplifted, I frauded myself to money, and engaged in self-mutilation. And no one acted in a meaningful manner. Not parents, no one in school, no social services – no one. I could very well have been Nicky Nichols or Tricia Miller. But I never ever did drugs. I never, ever, slid down into that final stage – because finally, after hitting my rock bottom, I decided, all by my lonesome, that I was better than that. I owed it to myself to give myself a chance of getting back in life – even though I had ruined so many of the possibilities in the process (skipping school for over a year doesn’t do wonders for your status in the eyes of narrow-minded teachers, or to your grades). Eventually, I sorted myself out – no thanks to anyone but myself – and actually did become an archaeologist, my childhood dream career. And now I’m in IT, working as a consultant for a large multi-national, in a large telecom.