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Retail Associates

Retail Associates

During my second semester at Ohio ST in 2012 I really wanted to have a job to fill in time between classes and needed the money as my financial aid was dwindling. This was before Damien and Jen slept together so Jen and I still hung out. One day I was going to fill out job applications in her dorm room and when I arrived it was strange she already had two guy friends there, they were not real men so no threat. Anyways I filled out applications at a couple places, one of which was Retail Associates as a basic tag placer that ended up calling me in for an interview. I believe because I had somewhat of a work history working with the Bennington public school system and was enrolled in the business school that they hired me on the spot at the end of the first interview.

This was when I had just started smoking weed and a somewhat funny thing would occur to where I was also smoking cigarettes at that time and often had dry mouth so I would smoke a hit or two in the parking garage before I left to go to work, I would change my clothes after smoking so no smell. The only thing I didn't account for was if you smoke cannabis with dry mouth and smoke a cigarette soon after there will be cannabis residue that makes the smoke smell like cannabis even if it is only tobacco.

I found this out several years later in life, but didn't know at the time, so on a day I was scheduled to work in the evening I did the same routine. I took some bud and a pipe with me to the parking garage, hit it a couple times, then changed into dress clothes for work. It wasn't a big deal changing in somewhat public, I just hated smelling like cigarettes or weed so it was necessary. As I got to work there was some reason for us all to take a break outside, all of the staff and managers, myself included. So I went to my car to get a black cigarette and began smoking it. Before I knew, all of the employees were in a circle by the door smoking regular cigarettes. I guess everyone that worked retail smoked. So I didn't think there would be anyone so I walked up and joined their circle, when after a few hits the African American lady looked at me and asked "What are you smoking? Ha ha." Smoking the bud earlier and not having any water left me with dry mouth so when I smoked the black it smelled completely like I was smoking weed. Everyone there was cool about it and was making jokes and I was kind of taken aback because I hadn't yet learned this problem could happen. Later on the same lady would joke "Are you ok to get on a ladder after smoking. Ha ha" I replied "yes," with confidence. I was on Adderall, and completely fine. There was another young guy that worked with me every day and I think just because he and I completed any and all tasks we were assigned to quickly that they really didn't care if I was smoking weed in the parking lot outside Retal Associates even though I really wasn't.