Proper misdemeanor explanation?

[paradyme]

Hey guys, I was just hoping to get a quick critique on my misdemeanor explanation.

Appreciations in advance!

Please explain the circumstances of your conviction, including the number of conviction(s), the nature of offense(s) leading to conviction(s), date and location of conviction(s), the sentence(s) imposed, and the type(s) of rehabilitation (maximum 1325 characters):


As a restaurant waiter approximately 4 years ago on June 29th 2005 in City, State I received a citation for “Providing an alcoholic beverage to a minor.” The incident occurred when I was serving a table and two gentleman ordered beers. I requested the I.D. of the younger man, and when he could not provide me with one, I reluctantly served him anyway under the assumption that he was of age. Unfortunately this was a poor assumption, and a mistake on my part for not being diligent about getting his identification; the two men were part of a police “sting” operation. I pled guilty to the charge and was issued a 175 dollar fine.


Would you include more of your reflections on the incident and lessons learned sort of stuff, or is the short and simple the way to go?

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[MilkmanAl]

I think that should suffice. If you can BS something that sounds meaningful regarding what you learned, go for it, but I think "I accept responsibility" is enough.

 

[armybound]

I like the way it is now, though I don't think they need to know the dollar amount of hte fine.

 

[paradyme]

I thought I would include it because it may show how petty the offense was. I'm just worried because the title of the ticket alone could have many implications, but I felt my case was a minor mistake, and I feel the sentence supports this.

 

[Mattabet]

I think your description is good as is. Stating the amount of the fine draws attention to the fact that the infraction was minor, with the advantage that you're not shifting the blame. Go with it.

 

[sleepy425]

I agree with the others. What you wrote sounds great, and I doubt it will be a problem at all.

 

[Ohio SMP]

Hey guys, I was just hoping to get a quick critique on my misdemeanor explanation.

Appreciations in advance!

Please explain the circumstances of your conviction, including the number of conviction(s), the nature of offense(s) leading to conviction(s), date and location of conviction(s), the sentence(s) imposed, and the type(s) of rehabilitation (maximum 1325 characters):


As a restaurant waiter approximately 4 years ago on June 29th 2005 in City, State I received a citation for "Providing an alcoholic beverage to a minor." The incident occurred when I was serving a table and two gentleman ordered beers. I requested the I.D. of the younger man, and when he could not provide me with one, I reluctantly served him anyway under the assumption that he was of age. Unfortunately this was a poor assumption, and a mistake on my part for not being diligent about getting his identification; the two men were part of a police "sting" operation. I pled guilty to the charge and was issued a 175 dollar fine.


Would you include more of your reflections on the incident and lessons learned sort of stuff, or is the short and simple the way to go?

Wow, I can't believe that the police would set up a sting operation to bust hardworking waiters trying to pay their way through school. This is really underhanded man. If they want to fine someone, they should fine the restaurant owner/manager. And I thought I had it bad at my previous job. What city or part of the country did this happen in?

You have my sympathies man. Waiting tables is hard enough. Even more so when there's the potential that you'll end up getting arrested or fined for doing your job.

 

[paradyme]

Ya this was a true bummer, at first I was really angry, and felt unlucky for "drawing" the bust. I was adamant about getting his I.D. but I still gave in. I definitely made a mistake, its just a bummer. Happened in Colorado.

 

[Col Kurtz]

Wow, I can't believe that the police would set up a sting operation to bust hardworking waiters trying to pay their way through school. This is really underhanded man. If they want to fine someone, they should fine the restaurant owner/manager. And I thought I had it bad at my previous job. What city or part of the country did this happen in?

You have my sympathies man. Waiting tables is hard enough. Even more so when there's the potential that you'll end up getting arrested or fined for doing your job.

Both states I've waited tables in were much stricter than the fine he got. Much stiffer fines ($500+). The owner/manager was at risk of fine and loss of liquor license. In most cases the server would get fired.

I agree it's crap. If peope are really that cocerned about drunk driving and underage drinking, then we should limit the number of drinks people can consume in an establishment. Punishing the person who literally carries the drink to the table is stupid and punishes the wrong person.

 

[LizzyM]

The server has the responsibility to check IDs before serving the drink. Boo hoo if you think otherwise. I think that the OP did a good job of explaining and not making excuses. Would we want this "criminal" as a student at __ med school? Each school has to make its own decision. I think that the lesson was learned and will be carried over to dotting the i's and crossing the t's when faced with comparable situations in medicine.

 

[paradyme]

I appreciate everyone’s feedback. If you drop by this post again, LizzyM, could you please give me your opinion on how detrimental this could be, even if you can only speak on behalf of your experience? I'm not too concerned, I understand what I did and I'm ready to live up to it, just curious how negative this appears.

 

[LizzyM]

On this subject, I only know one school, and based only on experiences of a couple years ago. Things change. That said, I've seen leniency when it come to situations involving underage drinking laws. I've said it a million times, the stuff that is of concern is violence, fraud, academic misconduct, terrorism, sex crimes, theft (particularly on campus), drug trafficking.

Would we want someone who ____ on our campus, studying here and taking care of our patients? Fill in the blank. If you can imagine a half dozen faculty members having a reaction to that sentence, then you have something to worry about.

 

[Col Kurtz]

The server has the responsibility to check IDs before serving the drink. Boo hoo if you think otherwise. I think that the OP did a good job of explaining and not making excuses. Would we want this "criminal" as a student at __ med school? Each school has to make its own decision. I think that the lesson was learned and will be carried over to dotting the i's and crossing the t's when faced with comparable situations in medicine.

I agree it is the server's resposibility, I just tend to question the effectiveness of the law in the first place. I refused alcohol to people without id's on several occassions. I just know that most servers think about the cash first, because the chance of getting hit by a sting is low.

As far as the OP, I agree with everyone that what is written is probably sufficient.