PPPN's "Where Are They Now?" - Local Disgruntled Waffle House Cook that Regreted Postponing Culinary School

When we last heard from Bobby Ringo he was having a tough week. His wife took his son and moved into her new lovers house, Bobby's ex-best friend Chuck's place. Bobby was hit with a notice that he'd now be paying child support, he was evicted from his apartment, his car was breaking down, and his hours were cut drastically by his hateful teenage boss at the local Waffle House where he worked.

Unless you don't own a TV, or simply don't watch the news, or maybe live in a cave where you never see another soul who happens to watch the news, then you're probably familiar with Bobby's bizarre local criminal trial that followed.

After kidnapping his ex-best friend Chuck and leaving him in the basement of an old abandoned factory downtown, his leg chained to the wall with a rusted hacksaw within reach, he didn't expect Chuck, now confined to a wheelchair, to press charges afterwords.

Bobby explains, "I figured he knew what he did was wrong, the police wouldn't do anything about it, so I took the law into my own hands. The cops don't like it when you do that though, come to find out."

There were video cameras set up at various locations in the downtown warehouse, apparently linked to Bobby's video control room, located a few miles away.

"I was just really mad, ya know? I mean hell, my whole world came crashing down in a matter of a week. I was lashing out, and he seemed to be the most obvious target at the time."

The cops soon found Bobby and hauled him to prison. The court case made national news and he was sentenced to life without parole. Bobby was distraught in jail, he had never stayed locked up for more then a few days after a DUI. He soon found a way to brighten up his life though when he applied to be a cook inside the big house.

"Now I'm doing what I love again, and I'm the happiest I've been in years. I don't have to worry about paying any bills, there's no bill collectors calling constantly in here, and I get plenty of sleep and reading in everyday."

Aside from the typical downsides of being in jail, the beatings, the gang rapes, Bobby loves his new found life. Although bad things happen on the inside still, he tells me now he doesn't think it's going to be so bad, at least until his new best friend Bubba is released.

"I'm somebodies bitch."

So his sex life has taken a turn for the worse, even though before it was nonexistent. He spends most of his day in the kitchen, cooking for the hundreds of prisoners at any given time in Spartanburg County's correctional facility.

"It somehow gives meaning to me being in here. I feel if I only brighten up one persons day by flavoring the food to the best of my ability, using what little seasonings and ingredients I have to work with in here, it makes it all worth while."

Bobby will bounce back a better man for all of this, I'm sure. One day, many years from now, maybe he can someday still get around to going to culinary school, and be a chef on that cruise boat like he always dreamed.

"It's not likely that they'd hire convicted felons, but maybe I could work in the cafeteria of a local school. I'd make sure the kids know not to take the summer off to postpone college after they graduate high school, that's for sure."