Okay, well, to be honest, even though I felt like my life was ruined at the time, this story isn't really all that interesting...
I was a 17-year-old who had recently gotten a job as a cashier in the grocery store where my dad was the manager. One night, just before closing, a customer came through my line. He was a young guy, and the only thing he was buying was a bottle of wine. Warning bells, right? Yeah, not for me. I didn't card him. To this day I have no idea why I didn't, except maybe because I was somewhat new to the job. Or maybe I was flustered because the guy was good looking. Or maybe I just wanted to finish my shift and go home. For whatever reason I let him buy the wine and walk out the door, and about 2 minutes later a couple of police officers came into the store and walked over to me. They informed me that it was a sting operation, and that I had just sold alcohol to a minor. I don't remember much about what was said after that. I just remember at some point my dad was there, too, and he was talking to the officers. He knew them and they knew him (it was a small community), and they expressed sadness that it happened. I also remember that I didn't cry. I completely held myself together...until they left. Then I cried a lot. My dad was really nice about it, though. He didn't add to the horribleness at all. He was very kind and sympathetic.
Afterward I was supposed to go to a sleepover with some high school girlfriends, but I didn't want to. My dad told me I should, that it would take my mind off things, so I went. I was like a zombie at that stupid sleepover for the first couple hours, because I was still sort of in shock. Eventually I had an alright time.
Like I said in the previous post, my name showed up in the Police Blotter section of the newspaper sometime within the next couple days, along with the names of several others who had gotten busted for the same thing. I had to go to school after that was published, and it was awful. People whispered and pointed as I walked down the halls. I just tried to ignore it. There were a couple teachers I loved and whose opinion I especially cared about, so I went to them and told them what happened. I wanted them to hear it from me.
A couple weeks later I had my day in court. I had to go before the judge, he read my...what's the word?...transgression?...and I had to say, "Guilty." I can't remember exactly, but I think I got a $200 fine. Maybe it was more? I paid some of it and the store paid some of it.
A few months went by and I was sitting in the library of my high school, chatting with a couple friends. My Senior English teacher (one of the ones I had explained the story to) walked up to me with some guy. Turns out, it was THE guy. It was the kid who had gone through my line and purchased the wine. He was 19, he was in the police academy, and he had come back to the high school to say hi to some old teachers. Mr. Walbrink thought we should be formally introduced. It was awkward and a little funny. Mostly awkward.
A few years later, when I was in college, I applied for a job as a counselor at a Christian summer camp. One of the questions on the application was, "Have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor misdemeanor?" I wasn't sure, but I thought that my thing might count, so I checked "Yes." Later, during the interview, it came up, of course. The interviewer wanted an explanation. Right before I started to tell the guy about it, though, he sat back, smiled, and said, "Oh, this is gonna be
good." lol Despite it, I got the job.
And that's that. That was my brief, yet mortifying, walk on the dark side.
PS: While I was writing this Zach wandered into the room and asked what I was doing. I said, "Oh, just telling the story of the time I was caught in a sting operation for selling alcohol to a minor."
"WHAT???!!!"
"Umm...I never told you about that?"
"No! What happened?!"
Sigh. So now my oldest kid knows, too, and thinks it's pretty hilarious.
