BD, when is your event? Could you switch to a more reasonable plan?
Back after an absence. I was in an armed robbery at a fast food place a few days before leaving town. Shaken up by the robbery, then further discombobulated by the travel. But I was exercising! The day after the hold up, I swam 3k aggressively, more for my mental health than anything. And I marveled at the light hearted locker room conversation, embraced the normalcy of it. Here is the long story:
I went to eat a burger with a friend to celebrate my birthday. We were going out later than we had planned and both of us had stuff to do, so we chose a fast food place to make it quick. She was treating, but I took my purse because I was on the fence about persuading her to go somewhere nicer and not letting her treat. We had ordered and moved over to the the soft drink station when two masked, armed men burst in and yelled for everyone to get down on the floor.
I have to tell you it seemed surreal. They seemed young and small and those weren’t real guns, were they? My first thought was that this was a prank being pulled by kids from a nearby high school. But the people close to the men got down. For a fleeting moment I thought about running out the back door, but my friend was frozen to the spot and what about her. What if they shot at me and hit her? What if they shot at me and hit ME! So I got down.
There was some more yelling. One man said “don’t look at me, face to the floor” and another said “give me your phone.” I know now that these commands must not have been aimed at me, but at the time, I obeyed. I lay there with my face into the floor, my purse beside me, my phone in my back pocket, but I was afraid to move and draw attention to myself, so I left it there. The robber could come get it. I was listening hard to try to tell where they were and what was happening, waiting for someone to come take my bag and my phone and I prayed not hurt me while doing it. I started thinking about what was in my wallet that would need to be replaced. Why had I even brought my purse? Why not let this be a treat? And could I get what I needed replaced before I left town? And if I got hurt/shot, what then? The cats! H was out of town. I had been texting about an upcoming scholarship contest that I was judging. The woman on the other end would be wondering why I wasn’t answering. All of these thoughts went through my head as I tried to lie very very still.
Someone softly said to get up. I didn’t. I didn’t dare. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder and said “it’s over; the police are coming.”
The robbers were gone. The whole thing seemed like it had taken forever, but had probably taken less than ten minutes, maybe five minutes. It had been quick. The robbers had taken cash from the cash register, had robbed the woman at the counter ordering, had left the rest of us alone. My purse was still next to me, my phone was still in my pocket.
There were about ten of us in the restaurant: three workers, a family of three with an elementary age son, two college girls, a middle aged man, my friend, and I. We were all quiet, stunned. I hugged my friend and we made some nervous jokes. The cashier said he had called the police and they were on their way. We knew we’d have to wait for them. The group of us bonded during the time we waited, comparing stories and expressing relief that no one was injured. No one at the side of the store had been robbed, just the people in the front near the cashier. I don’t think it took the police long to come, but again it seemed like forever. Four police cars came screaming up. By the time the detectives arrived, there were more cops than victims. As time went on, people broke down. The two college girls called their folks and cried. The man thought he was having a heart attack and an ambulance was called. When the paramedics arrived, my friend burst into tears. I think she was imagining what might have been.
We were dismissed after maybe an hour, free to go. I suggested my friend come home with me, but she said she would be alright. We did talk again a few times before we went to sleep that night.
I face timed my kids as soon as I got in the door. I just needed to see them. My friend did the same thing, she said. I texted H, but he was in a different time zone so I didn’t reach him until morning. I slept with the TV and the lights on that night.
I am okay. My friend and I have been through our story over and over. We admit we both were jumpy about going in storefront type places for a few days.
