Should Have Gone On A Diet Coke Break

(My friends and I have just come in from a night out, and a bunch of them head to the sub shop on campus. I head back to my dorm first to drop off something, and decide to grab a can of pop to drink on my way to meet them. As we are heading back to our dorm with our sandwiches, I discard my can into a big trolley that we have been told is for recycling while they wait for bins to be delivered. Shortly afterwards, a girl comes up to me and I think she’s a friend of a friend at first.)

RA: “All right, so it was you who had the open can of alcohol. What’s your name?”

(I then notice the notepad in her hand and realize she is an RA about to write me up.)

Me: “No, I had a can of pop that I was drinking.”

RA: “I know what I saw; you had an open can of beer.”

Me: “Uh, no. I’m sorry; it was a can of Diet Coke. I can show it to you if you want.”

RA: “Yes, let’s go back and see it.”

Me: *thinking* “Seriously?” *saying* “Fine.”

(The whole walk back she is super smug, and I think she thought I was too drunk to realize what I was drinking. Joke is on her, because when we get up to the trolley, my can of Diet Coke is the only one there and I proudly point at it. I see her face turn red, but she is determined to write me up for something.)

RA: “Well, you shouldn’t discard your trash in there. That’s very rude and disrespectful; this isn’t meant for recycling.”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry; I was told we were supposed to put any recycling in there until the shop received their new recycling bins from the university. Did they get their new bins?”

RA: “What are you talking about? They’ve always had recycling bins. They’re right…”

(That’s when she realized there weren’t any around, and talked to the staff at the shop to confirm the trolley was to be used for recycling. I offered to remove the can if it was a problem, but the death stare she gave me just told me to let it go.)