Tricks to get high

Time: 2005
Place: Downtown Boulder, Boulder, CO

“Run, run, run!”

Sammy* goes in first and pretends to fill a soda with no luck at the beverage station. This is all an act we’ve pulled a few times before. He goes up to the teller to let him know the machine is “out of the soda” he’s trying to get. The teller steps out from behind the desk to check out the machine with Sammy. This is my cue... I jump behind the desk and grab two of the closest cartons of cigarettes I can get my hands on. I try to play it cool but also move quickly while the teller has his back turned. My adrenaline is through the roof, but I’m focused. The rest of our day depends on this moment, these cigarettes are going to be our currency so there is no room for mistake.

I’m trying to play it cool walking out of the store, but the teller quickly realizes what just happened. “Hey! You!” He hollers at me as he realizes what just happened. I break out into a sprint, out of the store before he can get another word out. Sammy, having fulfilled his part as the distraction, flys out behind me. The teller is yelling at us from the front door, but we both know he stands no chance at catching us. We run, run, run until we meet up with Benjamin* a few blocks down. Laughing and panting as we catch our breath. Feeling proud and excited that we now have our currency to get high on for the day. Cigarettes are as good as cash when it comes to the people we are dealing with.

Snatching cartons from convenient stores was just one of the hundreds of schemes we pulled to get high. Selling fake drugs, shoplifting clothes and CDs or hustling our fellow classmates out of their cash or drugs were a few of our other tricks. I’m not proud of these things, but it is a part of my story, and I promised myself when I started telling my stories that I would always be transparent. Karma got me back, like it always does. I’ve been robbed, jumped and stolen from more times than I can count. I go above and beyond today to be overly open and honest in all situations, I feel like that is one of many things I can do to right my wrongs. What can’t I do? Erase my past. What can I do? Learn from those mistakes and live accordingly; that’s why today I make a conscious effort to be the best person I can possibly be. And I will continue to do tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life.

*names changed to protect privacy