Buying Cigarettes Is Such a Drag by Alyssa Mercado

In romantic comedies, summer jobs are always portrayed as life changing, unforgettable, and full of drama. However, in reality, most people do not re- member their first few summer jobs. Whether the job was a simple lifeguarding position at a neighborhood pool or a cashier’s gig at a local grocery store, these jobs are usually just a means to earn some extra money in order to enjoy the summer of your dreams with your friends and family. My first summer job was working in retail at my local Kmart as a Softlines Merchandiser. I was the per- son on the floor who organized all of the clothing racks and shelves, put away carts full of clothing returns, and operated the fitting room key. While this job was relaxing and tolerable while it lasted, I have less than a handful of distinct memories from the place. While my first summer job as a retail slave was entirely forgettable, my second job was anything but; working undercover for the FDA buying cigarettes changed the entire course of my life.

From June 2015 to September 2015, I was contracted by the FDA to go undercover with an inspector and buy tobacco products from various locations around Orange County, New York. This seemed  like  a  good fit for me. Throughout middle school and during my first two years of high school, I was sure that I  wanted to  study  criminal justice  and become a crime scene investigator when I grew up. My father was a police officer, and since I watched many crime shows on television, I decided that  this  was my path. My close friend, Darlene, shared my career goal; one day near the end of my junior year of high school, she showed me an Indeed.com job posting regarding working as an undercover buyer; the entire posting made me  skeptical.  There  were no prerequisites for the job, and it seemed odd that the FDA just happened to be looking for teenagers under the age  of seventeen  to buy cigarettes.  While I was suspicious, I was still extremely interested in the position, and forwarded it to  my parents to  see  if they would approve.

They apprehensively allowed me to go forward, and I proceeded to send my sparse resume to Ellen Riley, the Administrative Assistant for Information Systems and Networks, the company contracted by the FDA to conduct the investigations. Three days later, I received an email back from Ellen stating that they were interested in having me work as a buyer and would schedule me in for a group interview over the phone with me that Friday. I was excited about seeing my dreams of working in the criminal justice field come to fruition. After a short phone interview and being hired, I was promptly partnered with an inspector from my area. I was eager to start my new job as an undercover buyer.

I met my inspector, Scott, at a reasonable nine in the morning. For us, a normal shift would be four to eight hours long. I didn’t have to carry anything extra with me as I did my inspections: just my ID In terms of clothing, I was allowed to wear whatever I pleased, but I mainly stuck to shorts and a t- shirt. When it was time to start working, Scott would pick me up from my home and drive to wherever the FDA needed us to go. I would walk into the store, followed by my inspector at a distance, and approach the front counter. I would ask for a pack of Marlboro Reds (because that was the only cigarette type I knew), and then see where the transaction went from there.

Because I was never allowed to lie about my age, if employees asked my age, I had to tell them the truth. However, the majority of the time, employees would just ask to see my ID. Sometimes, the associate would ask for ID and turn me down; at other times, the associate would not ask for my ID and sell me the cigarettes anyway. On rare occasions, a person might ask for my ID, which stated that I was seventeen, and then, in spite of the ID, allow me to buy cigarettes. Every time I was permitted to buy, the cigarette pack was considered evidence. Scott and I would then proceed to fill out the necessary paperwork and take photos of the evidence. This entire process took almost a half hour. I worked undercover for the FDA for three months before aging out of the position. In those short three months, I made over forty buys and probably cost many employees their jobs.

While an amazing experience, it was also  one  of the hardest things I’ve ever done. At times, working undercover could be terrifying. I would go into some places not knowing whether I would be attacked, yelled at, or arrested (even though I technically could not be arrested). In addition to having objects thrown at me, I sometimes was called horrible names that really bruised my self-esteem; the more I worked, the more my social anxiety increased. Even if an employee did not sell me cigarettes and was doing their job, I could still expect them to curse at me. A few times, my inspector brought me to the city  of  Newburgh.  While  there on one extremely hot and muggy afternoon, a fight broke out in front of Scott’s parked truck. I wanted to break down and beg to go brought home; instead,  I forced myself to remain as calm as I possibly  could, given the situation. Against my mental pleadings, I had to leave his truck as the fight continued, and walk into the business where I would attempt the buy.

To this day, working for the FDA has been the most interesting thing I have done in my short eighteen years of life. The work taught me that honesty really is the best policy and that the government will always know if something illegal is happening. In addition, my job demonstrated that while most people do have good intentions, many people do not and will do anything for extra cash. Even small, family-run business owners who depend on their establishment to keep their families afloat are willing to bypass the law and risk ruining their entire career. Finally, because of my work with Scott, I came to realize that criminal justice is not the field for me. Although it ultimately crushed my young dreams of being exactly like the investigators I had watched on television, my summer job provided me with an insight that I would not have arrived at otherwise. Therefore, despite all the stress the work caused me, I do not regret taking the job.