When I graduated high school in June 2022 I realized I didn’t want to go straight to college, I wanted to go straight into the workforce instead of going to college. I decided to go straight into the workforce instead of going to college. So I got a job as a security guard. It required me to get a New York State security guard license or as my boss called it a guard card which showed me the reality of being a New Yorker.

I remember taking the job thinking wow this is going to be a chill job little did I know the guard card was going to show me a year of seeing violence, theft, wealth inequality, and the corruption of the innocent. I worked as a guard that would stand near the door and watch for shoplifters and greet the people as they walked into the department store. I didn’t know there was so much shoplifting in America. Everyday I would have to stop people from stealing stuff. They would take tons of stuff like boxes of makeup, boxes of perfume, coats, and one time an entire cash register tray. The saddest experience I remember was seeing two kids steal an entire cash register tray. Like they brought in one of those rolly suitcases with them, ripped out the tray of a cash register, shoved the tray into the suitcase, and tried to leave not knowing that the police had seen them. So those two teenagers got handcuffed and it was just so sad to see. It made me sad and disappointed that people were so mentally ill they would do this. There were also times when mothers would shoplift while they had a baby in their stroller. So the police would be arresting her and having to deal with her child so that wasn’t great. There would also be times when homeless people would come into the building and the team and I would have get rid of them.

I didn’t know there was a whole shoplifting underground system across New York City. Like kids would take the stolen stuff to contacts in Brooklyn who would give them cash for the stolen stuff. And then the shoplifters would launder their money through a barbershop. Making it look like all the money gotten from selling the stolen stuff was just tips. That security guard card got me my first real job and showed me the real world. The real world where people steal to make a living. I remember growing up thinking that thieves were cool gangsters like George Clooney, Ray Liotta, & Robin Hood who steal for the thrill. I realize that in this cruel nation where people are treated like animals, athletes are sent around North America like cattle, corporations view artists as numbers on a balance sheet, and healthcare costs are the #1 reason for bankruptcy: people steal to make a living. You know if you can’t afford your hospital bills, rent, & food on a minimum wage people might have to turn to other ventures to make money. That’s what my guard card showed me. It showed me what it’s like to work an adult job and what the adult world is like.