september 9, 2005 - how to get a city bus pulled over by cops
For some reason, I always become very nervous when I speak to the police. I can't explain why that is. I consider myself to be a decent law abiding citizen. I've never had any traumatic experiences with a cop, but my tongue still seems to trip over itself whenever I speak to one.
Today was another good example of my communicative ineptitude. At the end of my shift, I was saying goodbye to Todd Jones when this guy walks in our front door and starts yelling at us to give him some paper bags. We weren't quite sure what his deal was, but another one of our co-workers recognized him as one of our chronic shoplifters. He had a shiny bag full of something, and she was sure that it was some of our frozen products.
By the time she had explained who he was to us, he was halfway down the street. I was off the clock so I thought I'd follow him and ask to see his receipt. He walked quickly down to the nearest bus stop and started unpacking his large bag into the ones that we gave him. In between the bus stop and our store is a Coffee Bean. It just so happened that at that moment there were two police cars parked outside.
I walked inside and asked them if they were on duty. One officer replied, "We're always on duty." I realize it's a stupid question, kind of like when a customer asks me if I work here when I'm putting a case of tomato soup on the shelf. I went on to clumsily explain the situation and ask for them to get our groceries back from the customer.
By the time they were in their cars, the guy was getting onto a Long Beach Bus. No problem, lights on, siren on, bus pulls over, shoplifter comes off. It turned out that he didn't have Trader Joe's product, but $300 worth of meat and frozen shrimp from a grocery store down the street. The officers wound up taking him down to that store, since he didn't have an id, wallet, or receipt on him.
In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have gotten involved in the situation, but then again, it's not everyday you get a city bus pulled over either.
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