Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Held Up Part 1

This past weekend, we had our second garage sale. A friend of the family wanted to add some of their things to the batch and we agreed. However, once I saw one of those things included a tray filled with forks and sharp knives, I changed my mind. There was no way I would put those weapons on display inviting a possible assault. Yes, I know. I sound a little paranoid, but it’s all because of my past.

Back in my early twenties, I managed our family owned florist shop. Seems like a perfectly safe environment, right? I thought so, even after I snipped my forearm instead of the rose stems and needed my first batch of stitches. What I never imagined was that a couple of teenage boys would come into my store and change my life forever. They handed an empty coffee cup to the employee at the front counter and told her they were armed. Although, they never displayed a weapon, she took their word for it. I can’t say I blame her. Unfortunately, the punks must’ve figured this was an easy target because they returned a month later with another empty cup. The store was loaded with customers, so they left, but the employee recognized them.

Considering the teens botched their last attempt at robbing our place, they had to come up with a better plan. This time, they entered the store wearing hats and scarves to conceal their identity. It was the middle of winter, so I didn’t think anything of it. In fact, they had already been there once that day and said they’d be back later. When they returned, I went into promotion mode and had them follow me into our large walk-in cooler. They hesitated, but joined me. I showed them our rose bouquets and other flowers. The guys wouldn’t make eye contact with me and seemed preoccupied or nervous. Maybe they were uncomfortable buying flowers. One of them mumbled something to me, but I didn’t catch it.

He pulled a knife from his jacket and pointed it at me.

To be continued...

12 comments:

  1. It's awful when our trust is broken. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

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  2. Wait...."to be continued?"

    Now I'm going to be worried for the rest of the day.

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  3. Yikes! Hope they got their just rewards. Can't wait for Part 2.

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  4. First off, I hope this is your Wip not your life and I'd like to read part two as well.

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  5. ACK! Oh, post more soon please. I'm dying to know what happened. This is terrible!

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  6. No, this isn't from my WIP. This is real life. Tune in tomorrow for more.

    Lynnette Labelle

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  7. Yikes!!!!! I'll stay tuned for the rest of the story:-)

    And , ugh, I am jealous bout your 2nd garage sale! I haven't had a free, non-rainy saturday for even my FIRST one yet! I like to have it over before July but it isn't lookin' like that's gonna happen...

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  8. Wouldn't you know I'd drop in to visit and catch a scary cliffhanger? I'm now writing myself a note that I must come back tomorrow to see what happened.

    Patricia

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  9. Yuck, some teenagers are out of control! And working in retail can be very dangerous, robbers, angry customers, crazy cars...

    I will check the blog again. Hope you were not hurt.

    Steamy Darcy

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  10. That's scary!

    My brother (when he was young) was held up at gun point around midnight when he was working at WaWa.
    He later became a cop.

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  11. Krista: This was our second garage sale in our lifetime. We had one last fall and then this past weekend. We were much luckier with the weather this time around. Last year, we froze our butts.

    I've posted part 2, so you can all find out what happened.

    Lynnette Labelle

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