Excuse me, Officer...

My job at Cyber Cafe on MTSU campus is, if nothing else, entertaining. At any given time, I can see 10-15 gigantic (fake) "diamond" studs in guys' ears, insanely inappropriately tight pants... on guys, insanely inappropriate amounts of cleavage (which make me think I can hear fathers' screams from all across the country), Quidditch robes worn as regular clothes, unbelievably colorful tennis shoes, no shoes at all, and the list goes on and on...

The kids are usually very nice and make me laugh. They are, for the most part, good natured kids that are just enjoying college and their friends. It's a fun atmosphere to be around.

Last night, however, I experienced one of the funniest things I've seen. A kid comes in that's skinny and about 6'1" or 2", brown, curly, shaggy hair, dressed like a skater... baggy pants, colorful jacket, bright cap turned partly to the side w/ the bill flipped up. The catch was, he looked like he was about to hurl. He was pale... I mean, PALE... as in his lips were the exact same color as his forehead. He had a green tint to his face, even, and a fine sheen of sweat across his face. His eyes were totally bloodshot. He, not surprisingly, was weaving all over the store area. He could barely stand up. He looked like someone that had been playing that game where you put your forehead on a bat, spin around and then try to run somewhere.

When he came in, I happened to be standing in the front talking to an MTSU police officer. They come by and chat with me sometimes. I appreciate the police presence, especially between 12 and 2a.m. Well, the police officer was leaning against a closed register while we talked. This kid staggers over to him and holds out his sandwich and drink like the police officer was going to ring him up. Did I mention, that the police officer was in FULL uniform... gun and all. Clearly, not a Cyber Cafe employee. To me, that spoke volumes about how messed up this kid was. I pointed to the other register and told the kid he could pay there. When he staggered away to the open register, the police officer and I kind of looked at each other and kept watching the kid. Was he handicapped? Did he have Cerebral Palsy? We were trying to figure out if he had some kind of disability that made him walk that way. As we watched him running into people and weaving around the store, we decided it was definitely chemically induced. Needless to say, he got taken in. Turns out, he was 19 years old, drunk, and had pot in his pocket. Oh, did I mention, he was on probation already? Guess what for? Possession of marijuana and under age drinking!!Apparently, he's not too bright if he's going to violate his probation doing the exact thing he was on probation for, and then ask a police officer to ring up his sandwich.