I've only ever been in the clink once.

Back in 2014 I toured Robben Island Prison where Nelson Mandela was held a political prisoner for 18 years. Located off the coast of Cape Town, Robben Island is to South Africa what Alcatraz Island is to America. It was an awful and depressing place and hard to believe people were kept under such grueling, inhumane conditions. Had Google been around when Robben Island was still in use as a medium and maximum security prison, the island-prison probably would have had a 1-star rating at best (today, it has a whopping 4.3 star rating out of 5, almost certainly due to its current identity as a museum and tourist hotspot).

By way of comparison, I decided to take a look at the Google reviews for St. Cloud's own Minnesota Department of Corrections...and couldn't stop laughing! With an overall rating of 3.3 stars out of 5, it's hard to decipher the serious reviews from the gags ones. Some, like the one below, offer some real, constructive feedback:

This one-star Google review -- while not a raving one -- seems plausible:

This review, too, sounds as if it could have come from a first-hand experience:

From there, though, things get more and more wildly ridiculous and unbelieveable:

After reading those last few reviews, the St. Cloud Minnesota Department of Corrections starts to sound more like a cozy motel than a level-4 prison!

See all the Google reviews for St. Cloud's Minnesota Department of Corrections here.