Another Kind of Travel Warning

Eric was a first year law student in need of some serious down time. When break came he and a couple of buds drove to another state.   The buds in this case were two joints.  In the state where Eric attends law school marijuana is not an offense, neither consumption nor possession.  In the state Eric traveled to marijuana is an offense.  Along the road in his destination state Eric was stopped by a State Trooper.  A quick search revealed Eric's joints.  During the conversation Eric appraised the State Trooper of his own personal rights and reminded the Trooper who his real employer was.  That is, Eric got lippy with the cop.  Bad idea.  As mentioned here elsewhere, The Law and It's Enforcers take themselves very seriously.  Eric was jailed and charged with felony possession, entirely possible under that state's laws. Eric's choices were few i. e. Plead guilty to a felony and pay a large fine  or plead not guilty and return for a trial after paying very large bail. Eric chose the first.  Now Eric is a law student with a felony record. Very difficult dilemma.

Couple of points, real obvious.  First, no matter where you travel, another state or another country, know the laws and don't violate them.  Second, simply, don't mouth off to cops, TSA agents, highway patrol officers, state troopers, border guards, gendarmes, security officials or any type of law enforcement personnel.  It won't help.  They have all the power.  When dealing with such officials a Planet College reminder;  Silence is Golden so whenever you are in a law enforcement type situation give 'em your name, show your ID, explain your presence and Shut UP!

Always ask- even if she's cute.

Jacob was home from school and back working nights at a small convenience store near the beach. Jacob has worked there summers and holiday breaks since high school stocking, pricing and ringing up purchases. It's a few extra bucks in addtion to his daytime job as a lifeguard.

On typical summer weekends the store is crowded with partiers stocking up. Ice, chips, wine and beer, lots and lots of beer are typical purchases. The law in Jacob's home state requires identification to purchase alcohol for anyone who looks under thirty. By now Jacob is pretty experienced in spotting underage buyers and always asks for ID. Well, almost always. On a recent busy Friday of a holiday weekend the store was packed and Jacob was busily ringing up for the beach bound revelers and occasionally asking for ID just in case. In the midst of all this busyness a girl approached Jacob's register with a Fourty. She looked "kinda young" as Jacob recalls but she was also "pretty cute" and had a friendly smile. For the sake of expediency and possibly for the sake of making a friend Jacob skipped the part about asking for proper identification. He rang up the purchase and the girl left.

A few minutes a police detective entered the store accompanied by some local uniformed officers and the girl who had purchased the Fourty. "Did you sell this girl alcohol?" the officer demanded. Jacob was practically dumb struck. "Yes." he replied. "Did you see her identification?" Jacob said he didn't remember.

It was a sting.

The local police in association with that state's Alcohol Licensing Board had a program of sending minors into retail stores to attempt to purchase alcohol. These operations were usually during busy holiday weekend evenings. If the minor was successful the seller was cited. The detective filled out a citation while the officers took Jacob's picture with the girl holding the Fourty. Jacob signed the ticket which was an order to appear in court.

Since that night Jacob has appeared in court. The district attorney has offered him a deal in which if Jacob completes an educational course held over a weekend the charges will be dismissed. The course costs several hundred dollars, just about what Jacob makes in a month at that job.

Expensive lesson. Note it carefully. No matter where you are but especially where money is involved always follow the rules, regulations and guidelines. In retail, if part of your job is selling alcohol always, always, always ask for ID- even if she's cute.

Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.

The sheer busyness of life on Planet College offers numerous opportunities to cut corners, especially with minor nuisances like parking meters. "I'm just gonna run in here for a second so I don't have to put any money in the meter." Experience often shows it is best to put the money in the parking meter- even if you'll "only be a minute." While parking without paying may not seem like a serious crime, once a parking ticket is issued the actual fine can be steep. And ignoring the ticket can add up to some serious money. Skipping a few coins now can result in to paying some major bucks later. Parking tickets add up. If they are on campus unpaid tickets can eventually interfere with getting copies of your transcript. So before you "just stop for a minute" in the disabled parking space or a no parking zone-think- do you have the money to pay the fine? Well? Probably not. So go park where it's free, even if you have to walk a few blocks. Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.