Last Spring there was a story that Paris Hilton refused to board a flight at LAX when she realized her Tempur-Pedic pillow was missing. She then had her driver take her to a nearby mall, while she shopped for another pillow and a bunch of clothes and stuff, missing the next two flights to her destination and having to be rushed to John Wayne airport to catch a flight there instead.

So it’s not surprising that Paris says she appreciates the little things in life now and puts her pillow first. She told Ryan Seacrest that she’s “much more grateful for everything” and that she wants to “use [her] fame in a good way.”

“I’m so much more grateful for everything that I have, even just to have a pillow at night or food,” Hilton told E! News’s Ryan Seacrest in a phone conversation from Century Regional Correctional Facility.

Hilton, who is scheduled to be released next week, says she plans to use her celebrity for good – and doesn’t want to be the object of ridicule anymore.

“You know my gratitude has gone up so much and I just realize that the media used me to make fun of and be mean about it,” she tells Seacrest in the interview for Thursday’s show. “Frankly [I’m] sick of it and I want to use my fame in a good way.”

Of her life behind bars, Hilton, who was jailed for violating probation for driving with a suspended license, says it’s been difficult being kept from her family. “I am behind glass and I want to give my dad a big hug and they won’t even let me do that.”

She also insists that she is not receiving any special treatment in jail. “That’s how the rules are, you have to be behind glass,” she said. “I’m not a criminal, I’m not dangerous, so it makes me feel like that. It’s hard but I’m stronger everyday.”

[From People.com]

Paris says she can’t wait to spend time with her family and “appreciate all the things I took for granted.”

You know, I really believe her, and I think the woman will come out of jail a changed person. I don’t think she’ll be doing gritty charity work or anything, but she might not hold her beaky nose up as high when she gets out, and she just might look at an average person on the street and realize that she’s not any better or any different than they are. At least for a week or two until all that fame and wealth goes to her head again.

Paris is getting more mail in prison than any other inmate in the history of the correctional facility where she’s staying. Her fame coupled with her longer jail sentence have helped her rake in the mail. She’s even answering some of it, and her mom says that all the nice fan letters are boosting her spirits.