My
sister asked to me to fill in last Thursday at her convenience
store for an employee of hers who had a family matter to attend
to. I really didn't want to do it because, of course, Thursday
is Survivor night (shut up...I'm hooked). Being the good brother
that I am, I agreed to help her out and I devised an elaborate
plan to tape Survivor and avoid any media on Friday and watch it
when I got home from work.
I've filled in there before, and this night seemed no different
from the rest. It was somewhat slow business-wise, and I got to
thinking about her business. I thought about how she had owned
this store for a while and unlike most convenience stores, she
has never been held-up. The neighborhood was not particularly
what you would call a high crime area, but it's had its share of
holdups. I began to wonder what made her store so special.
Ahh, the irony...
I was robbed.
A young black man walked in at about 9:00 PM and held me up. He
purchased a lottery ticket and then he pointed a .45 at me and
he asked for the money from the drawer and for the cash I had
laying off to the side. I gave it to him and he quickly fled
(dropping about half the money on the way out). I then tripped
the silent alarm and the police were there in minutes (as of
this writing they have yet to catch the guy, although they got
him on video). It was over as fast as it began.
My views on guns are forever changed. We need new gun laws. We
need to make sure this never happens again. We need to ban
handguns. We need to ban all guns. I need to sue the
manufacturer of that .45 to recover my losses due to emotional
trauma. I need to sue my sister for asking me to work. We need
to catch that guy and send him into see trained government
approved therapists, so he can understand how he has hurt me and
the community as a result. We need to do something, and we need
to do it now.
So you are now asking yourself, "Is he serious?"
Ummm...no.
Yes, the robbery happened, but I would never resort to that type
of knee jerk alarmism. I don't blame the gun for what happened,
I blame that worthless piece of crap who decided he would rather
steal than to get a real job. Why some in our society would see
it otherwise is beyond me.
The criminals in our society are criminals because (hope this
doesn't go over your head here) they break the law. No
new gun law would have prevented this from happening. Does
anyone really believe that any criminal would think, "You
know I really want to knock over this convenience store, but
this gun I have isn't legal. I think I'll go and volunteer at
the community center instead."
Some folks will argue that a handgun ban would reduce the
chances of these occurrences and to that I say: How would you
know, were you ever robbed? (Woohoo, I have credibility now)
There will always be guns on the street. Most of the gun crimes
that are committed are committed with guns that are already
illegal. How does making a new law change anything? Other then
making some of us feel like 'we are doing something.' It
wouldn't deter crime, prevent crime or even make a nick in the
number of guns on the street. It would just be another wheel
spinning exercise that we Americans seem to love to do.
All in all, I would describe the event as enriching. I've often
wondered how I would act in a high pressure situation and I was
impressed with my ability to stay pretty cool through it all.
Although nervous, I wasn't shaky. I knew insurance would cover
the losses, so I wasn't worried about the money. I was able to
analyze the situation as it happened. I knew that I could not
have tripped the alarm while the robbery was occurring by
watching his eyes follow my hands. I knew that the criminal
really wasn't sure what he was doing (he didn't have me open up
the lottery cash drawer, even though he saw me put his money in
it a minute earlier). I knew that I would come out of the
situation unscathed.
On a scale of 1-10 I would give this experience a 7. I had to
take 4 points off for the whole threat to my life thing, but I
added a point because I was able to invalidate his lottery
ticket (I'll be damned if he's going to win anything off that
ticket). Adrenaline is an amazing thing. I was able to think
more clearly in that minute and a half, than at any other time
in my life. If there was a drug which would allow that clarity
of thought at all times, Heaven knows I'd be hooked. You never
truly understand this feeling until you have experienced it for
yourself.
The funny thing is that the robbery wasn't even the low point
for me that night.
Earlier in the evening, a man walked in and bought a pack of
cigarettes and before he left he said," Hey, they kicked
that tall kid, Mitchell, off the island on Survivor
tonight."
Now there is something we need a new law for.
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