First, it was confusing. I was working when, all of a sudden, a woman ran behind the yard wall into the bushes. She had dark hair, lean, ragged features, a purple shirt, and capris. She was clutching a purse and looked scared.
My first thought was, "What the fuck?" My second was, "I'd better see what she's doing behind our wall." So I got up and looked at the tangle of bushes and brambles behind our wall. Who in their right mind would be running through that at full speed? She tripped and fell a few times as she ran.
Was someone chasing her? I didn't see anyone behind her at all.
Does she live in one of the houses on top of the hill? I saw her head farther into the brush, not toward any house that I could see.
Does she really, really have to go to the bathroom? After this last thought, I looked away in case she needed privacy to do her thing. If I were racing into thick brush behind a wall, it'd probably be because I really, really had to pee. Especially when I was pregnant. Is she pregnant? I thought of what I knew about civilized people. Civilized people (i.e. not me) usually want to pee in a civilized place, and there are perfectly civilized bathrooms within a few hundred yards inside the store. So, that's probably not the reason.
Is she a thief? Possible, but what kind of hairbrained thief goes running around in the brush in plain sight of a security guard in the middle of the day?
Is she having a mental breakdown?
I decided to call to her to see if she needed help.
"Hey, whoever's there!" I called, "Do you need any help?" Because I'm helpful like that. And subtle.
No reply... in fact, she picked up her pace. OK, probably not doing anything wholesome like taking a shit, then.
I called the guys in the yard through my radio, telling them that there was a crazy person running around behind the yard, and to keep a lookout.
"Does she know there's lions, tigers, and bears back there?" Was the reply. We all laughed a little. I had no idea what she was doing back there.
About half an hour later, I got a call on my radio saying the woman I saw had just stolen a bunch of stuff from Walmart. Huh. I texted my friend who also worked at the yard, because I knew he'd be suitably impressed. He was, but I was insatiably curious. Had the cops picked her up? Was she still at large? No way to know, so I went back to work.
(That's the wall and underbrush that she went running into.)
Then, later in the day, I saw a white SUV pull up and thought nothing of it- cars pull up in the employee spots next to me all the time. But then a woman who looked exactly like the woman I saw before trudged out to the bushes, cigarette in hand, purse nowhere to be seen. I had a moment of self-doubt. What if it's not the same woman? I really do have a horrible memory, so I made sure I was seeing things correctly.
(An aside: One thing this job has taught me is to trust my judgment more than ever. Because of my ADHD, I don't always have a correct understanding or memory of things. I miss details. I overlook obvious things. But, in this job, I have to project confidence. I have to rely on my own judgment and skills over those of the customer. Surprisingly, a lot of the time, I'm right and the customer is wrong! That's mind blowing to me. I'm so used to being the one in the wrong.)
Of course, the evidence clearly suggested it was the same woman. I called the yard and let them know. "Should I call the cops?" I asked, nonchalantly. My voice was calm but my hands started shaking. Ah, adrenaline.
"Well, she is wanted," was the reply.
"OK, I'm calling the cops," I said, and dialed 911. I only vaguely remember talking on the phone with them, because stuff was happening in my environment at the same time. The guy in the SUV that drove her up caught on to the fact I was on the phone and started pulling out of the parking space. When it was parked, I couldn't get a good read on the license plate, but as it pulled out, I was able to see the numbers. While I was relating what I saw to the police, I took out a pen and started writing down the license numbers.
I hung up with 911 and went out of my station. Other employees came out- one was my manager- and asked me which way she went. I pointed out the route she took, and they started circling around.
Suddenly, I saw her directly in front of me, coming out the way she came in.
"There she is," I yelled. She came barrelling towards me (I was blocking her way out) with a bunch of stuff in her arms. I thought of all the cop shows I'd seen.
"Ma'am, please stay where you are," I calmly told her. (While thinking, hey! It's pretty fun pretending to be a cop. Wheee!) (Did I mention that adrenaline makes me slightly giddy?)
She didn't stop, but she did try to go around me. I grabbed her arm and repeated, "Ma'am, you need to stay here." She dropped the stuff she was carrying and the other employees, who were coming up behind her, told me to just let her go. I let her go. (But I really, really wanted to take her down.) At that point, I saw that an officer was coming out of the bushes right behind her, so I watched them run past, around a corner and out of sight, where another unit was waiting. They apparently arrested her there.
I gave the officers the license number and description of the SUV, and they have an APB on it now. I looked over the stuff she dropped. Shoes, underwear, jewelry, random knick knacks. As I looked at the items I felt bad for her. Maybe $30 worth of merchandise, taken from Walmart, the most evil of corporations. Did I do the right thing, getting the police involved? If she would have approached me at Walmart and asked me to pay for those things for her, I would have. She looked like someone who had a rough life- maybe she needed that stuff. Walmart certainly wouldn't miss $30 worth of profits. I felt awful.
On the other hand, she stole that stuff and hid it on my watch, on my turf. I simply couldn't do my job properly and let her get away with it. If she would have come back after my shift, there would be no security guard here overnight, and she could have easily gotten away with it. What possessed her to do all this in the middle of the day? I simply could not ignore such blatant criminal activity. Still, I hope she gets the help she needs. She didn't seem dangerous at all, just damaged and not that bright. Not a very formidable opponent for this barbarian. I felt like a cat dragging around a stuffed animal.
But, I also feel like I have something impressive to put on my resume, so... *shrug*
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