Day 303 - Nov 3rd

So I worked at Fred Meyer last night. And ... I had a little confrontation.

I saw an 18-19 year old leaving hardware empty handed wearing a hoodie. Well, to any hoodie wearing kids out there - guess what, you are profiled. Especially if your hood is up. And especially if you are white and privileged. Why? Two reasons - 1) many white kids seem to have an attitude of "it's owed to me" and no sense of responsibility and 2) because the vast majority have only one interest in the hardware section - using the tools to cut open packages and steal as much as they can. Not much I could do about this guy though - I didn't see him steal, I just knew he had. And I really dislike shoplifters. A lot.

So I go get my Aleve (I had hurt my back moving stock around) and as I walk up front, I see hoodie dude joining his buddy, hoodie dude 2. Hoodie Dude 2 is carrying a case of beer. This I can do something about. I walk quickly behind dude 2 and ask to see his receipt. He ignores me. I don't like being ignored. So I got in front of him and he continued to ignore me - and tried to bump past me. That really doesn't work well with me. So a little confrontation happened and he dropped the beer and ran. I should add, this is the second time I've caught this little punk (little - he's 6 inches taller than me but about 80 pounds lighter). But this time was louder and a touch more ....... involved. A few customers and employees were witnesses so I would've been covered.

This happened in front of electronics and one of my friends there said she heard my voice but didn't recognize it. I told her that she heard my "Dad Authority" voice. It's kind of a drill sergeant voice I sometimes use on my kids and I also quite frequently use on troublesome people in the store.

Afterwards I went to hardware and my suspicions were correct. Hoodie dude 1 stole about $130 worth of automotive supplies including four of these $25 headlights. How I wish I had caught him. Why? Because we get a recovery incentive and heck, $13 buys three Little Caesars pizzas......and I might get to hear that pleasing sound of handcuffs clicking closed around a thief's wrists...I never get tired of that sound.