Almost getting Kicked Out of the Peace Corps before I Start

To start off, let me say that I am not even a Met's fan....but we'll get to that part.

I woke up around 9:00 AM yesterday and finally got out of bed around 10 or so (yeah, its nice being unemployed). So after bumming around for a while, I finally started to pack up my apartment and prepare for my trip to Jamaica next week. After a few minutes of packing, I realized that I still needed to go through some of my paper work for my staging event. As I was going through the forms and booklets that I received, most of which I had already filled out, I stumble across a "Peace Corps Eligibility" form. I realize that this was not just a check list, as I originally thought, but a form that actually needed to be filled out. As I began to read it, I realize that the form was asking if I have been charged with any misdemeanors or received any citations since my original application and background check. Then I remember back to the end of May....(flash back)

John, a friend of mine at my old job invited me to a Met's game back on May 30th, saying that he had a few extra box seat tickets. Since I had never been to Shea Stadium and I am always looking for an excuse to leave work a few hours early on a Friday, I gladly accepted his offer. John also invited other coworkers of ours, Brian and Karan, with the remaining tickets he had. So we all left work around 2:00 PM and carpooled to Shea Stadium.

We finally arrived at Shea Stadium after sitting in about 4 hours of horrible New York City traffic and had about an hour before the game started. After parking the car, Brian and Karan went off to find a restroom and John and I sat on the bumper of his car and each opened up a beer to do a little tailgating. There were lots of other people in the parking lot drinking their beverages, so we didn't think there was anything wrong until a police car pulled up next to us. Two NYPD officers stepped out and informed us that we were in violation of a public drinking ordinance and were going to issue us $25.00 citations. They also informed us that all we needed to do to avoid these citations was to pour our drinks into plastic cups rather than drink them directly from the can! Somehow drinking out of a plastic cup makes drinking in public legal!?!? So, a few days later I mailed in my guilty plea along with $25.00 and thought the situation was over....(back to the present)

I immediately called the phone number on the eligibility form to get in touch with a Peace Corps Eligibility officer. The person on the other end of the phone was not happy and informed me that the PC has a pretty strict policy when it comes to any drugs and alcohol convictions, even misdemeanors like this. Their policy usually caries a minimum 1 year period from the date of the incident where you become ineligible to serve. This wouldn't have been the end of the world, but considering that I had just recently quit my job, was in the process of packing up my apartment, and was planning on flying to Miami NEXT WEEK for my staging event, I was a little freaked out. I sent in some additional information, filled out some additional paperwork, and spent the next six hours convinced that I was going to have to find a new job and new place to live for the next year.

Fortunately the PC has some very diligent, compassionate people working for them who understood that this was not a major incident that warranted such harsh repercussions. At the end of the day, I received an e-mail saying that I was still eligible for PC service and was allowed to join my training class next week. Looking back, I probably over reacted a bit and shouldn't have gotten so worked up. What was the worst that could have happened - I delay my service a year? Life could be a lot worse. But a lesson for future volunteers - to avoid any hastles like this, be extra careful to stay out of these types of situations.