Voltron
HeadFest '07 Lead OrganizerThe DOTU
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2005
- Posts
- 4,022
- Likes
- 15
Sorry to hear about your brush with a moron, Indra. I hope you don't have it hanging over your head for long, but I know from experience that this kind of thing can spook you when you work in a retail shop dealing with whoever walks through the door.
I worked at a large drug store in high school. A few of my friends worked there too, and we often had shoplifters that we took some pleasure in "policing." The shoplifters especially liked the 1.75 liter bottles of liquor that were stacked at the ends of aisles. We sometimes chased down the thiefs when they would grab bottles and run, and we even held them until police arrived on occasion. It was risky but we were young and there were always 3 or 4 of us and 1 or 2 of them.
One evening, however, we had spotted two shady looking guys creep into the store looking suspicious. One weasly guy with a backpack was just wandering the aisles and I was keeping my eye on him. As I walked toward where he was, one of my buddies called out some kind of warning to me that I don't really remember. I turned toward my friend with my back to the guy for a second, and suddenly this guy was holding me from behind with a gun pressed up into my neck and chin. He held me like that while a few other clerks came running over while trying not to provoke him. He was saying something to me, but I have no idea what it was. His friend ran out of the store during the commotion.
Just as suddenly as he had grabbed me, he let me go and turned me around while he slipped his gun under his belt at his back. It looked like a .45 automatic pistol. He said something like, "Now, never go and do that to me again," then spit in his hand (not really, but as in an oath or something from the wild west) and held it out to me to shake. I shook his hand in a daze and he backed out of the store. I realized that I had a cut on my chin where he shoved the gun, and my friends ran over to me.
The police arrived and found that he had gone into a bakery next door and put his gun on the table and sat there quietly. The patrons and workers left the store and the police entered arresting him without incident. His gun was actually a C02 pellet pistol but it was loaded and ready to fire. They charged him with assault with a deadly weapon because they said he could have killed me by shooting me in the neck at that close range. Needless to say, I never chased after shoplifters after that incident, and I felt different for awhile about being at the store.
My advice is to look out for yourself and call the police if you feel threatened or at risk in a shop. Try to defuse situations like that and get out of them as quickly as you can -- even by saying that you'll waive the charges or whatever it takes. I hope you never see that guy again, but steering clear is much more sound advice than "reverse stalking."
Be safe, and be well.
Al
I worked at a large drug store in high school. A few of my friends worked there too, and we often had shoplifters that we took some pleasure in "policing." The shoplifters especially liked the 1.75 liter bottles of liquor that were stacked at the ends of aisles. We sometimes chased down the thiefs when they would grab bottles and run, and we even held them until police arrived on occasion. It was risky but we were young and there were always 3 or 4 of us and 1 or 2 of them.
One evening, however, we had spotted two shady looking guys creep into the store looking suspicious. One weasly guy with a backpack was just wandering the aisles and I was keeping my eye on him. As I walked toward where he was, one of my buddies called out some kind of warning to me that I don't really remember. I turned toward my friend with my back to the guy for a second, and suddenly this guy was holding me from behind with a gun pressed up into my neck and chin. He held me like that while a few other clerks came running over while trying not to provoke him. He was saying something to me, but I have no idea what it was. His friend ran out of the store during the commotion.
Just as suddenly as he had grabbed me, he let me go and turned me around while he slipped his gun under his belt at his back. It looked like a .45 automatic pistol. He said something like, "Now, never go and do that to me again," then spit in his hand (not really, but as in an oath or something from the wild west) and held it out to me to shake. I shook his hand in a daze and he backed out of the store. I realized that I had a cut on my chin where he shoved the gun, and my friends ran over to me.
The police arrived and found that he had gone into a bakery next door and put his gun on the table and sat there quietly. The patrons and workers left the store and the police entered arresting him without incident. His gun was actually a C02 pellet pistol but it was loaded and ready to fire. They charged him with assault with a deadly weapon because they said he could have killed me by shooting me in the neck at that close range. Needless to say, I never chased after shoplifters after that incident, and I felt different for awhile about being at the store.
My advice is to look out for yourself and call the police if you feel threatened or at risk in a shop. Try to defuse situations like that and get out of them as quickly as you can -- even by saying that you'll waive the charges or whatever it takes. I hope you never see that guy again, but steering clear is much more sound advice than "reverse stalking."
Be safe, and be well.
Al
