There Was No Shame

I cannot believe the audacity of some people.

I was at an amusement park. I was waiting on family members. They had gone to the Restroom.

I waited inside a gift shop. It was on the end of a row of shops. The front and side were open to all walk-in traffic. The register was located in the middle of the store toward the back. The store was cluttered with large and small racks and large and small bins.

As far as I could tell, there was only one person attending the entire store. The girl was at the register with a customer. I waited by several of the bins near the outside.

Four boys walked up to the store and started to mill around. By their behavior and body language, I could see something was not right.

I looked toward the register. The girl on duty was oblivious to the people on the fringe of her store.

I looked back to the boys. With darting glances within and without the store, it was obvious they noticed the same.

I knew they planned on stealing merchandise. What was I to do? What if they got violent? It could be four against one.

I decided to wait and see if my suspicions were confirmed and then act.

Suddenly, one boy grabbed an action figure and tossed it to one of his mates. The catcher quickly snatched the figure under his wind breaker and the group promptly proceeded out of the store.

Time to act.

The only way to deal with this was to draw as much attention as possible to the four boys. I whistled as loud as I could. (Which I understand is pretty loud. Whenever I have done it at events the people around me have ask that I not whistle any more.) The boys pulled up short. People inside and out looked in our direction. I looked at the boy with the stolen figure.

“Put that back!” I shouted loud enough for those around me to hear.

The catcher walked back nonchalantly and dropped the toy in the bin. He glanced back over his shoulder at me as the pack moved away in search of easier pickings. There was no shame in his eyes.

I walked to the register and informed the attendant that she had almost been robbed. She too seemed nonchalant. I suggested they have several employees on duty toward the outer parts of the store to help with customers and to deter thieves. She said she would mention it to her supervisor.

What is the world coming to?

- wowf

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