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I worked in a small local convenient store for my first couple years of college. Small town, had zero actual problems ever. We closed at 9 PM, the biggest problem I ever had was old ladies trying to stay past closing to keep playing scratch-off tickets. As luck would have it, in one such instance they got pissed at me for cutting them off when I had to close, so they went out to their cars in the parking lot to scratch the tickets.
I really had to use the bathroom, which I typically didn't do at work since I lived a block away. Most of the time there was only one person working the store at once, so I was hurrying to sweep, count down registers, take out trash, etc. While I was on the way to the bathroom I figured I'd throw the trash in the dumpster out back while I was at it, the trouble started when I didn't notice that the door hadn't shut all of the way.
Made me way to the one working bathroom (had a "women" sign on it, I worked with all women), sat down, had my headphones in and was scrolling through my email. It was a really small bathroom, maybe 4x4 -- pretty much just enough room for the toilet, the sink, and to open the door. I thought I'd heard a thump, and figured maybe one of the people I worked with had come back in to get something they'd forgotten. Next thing I know the door is kicked in and there's a gun drawn and pointed at my dick, more or less. Legitimately thought "Huh, I'm getting robbed and I'm going to get shot and die while taking a shit. That's a pretty funny way to go out."
Once the initial shock passed, I realized it was a cop who was barking orders at me to stand up, hands up, etc. I recognized most of the cops in town -- again, small place -- and realized he must have been new. There was an older cop in the back who immediately realized the situation and was stifling laughter. The rookie, however, still had a gun drawn on me and was clearly in adrenaline mode. I basically talked him down enough to get cleaned up and whatnot, since I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong. Didn't help that, since I lived nearby, I didn't have identification on me and had to go through a long process of explaining that I worked there. Basically the dude that pointed the gun at me just wanted to try and act like he really needed to make sure I really did work there (it should've been pretty obvious when I demonstrated that I had the keys to the place), I figure he thought if he treated the situation seriously it would justify what he did. Older cop was just cracking jokes, he was pretty alright.
I don't have proof, but if I had to guess I'd assume that it was the old ladies that saw me throwing garbage in the dumpster and decided to call me in as a 'burglar', knowing full well that I wasn't. Or maybe they genuinely didn't know, they weren't especially sharp. It's a funny story to tell now, but in hindsight the rookie was using zero common sense, and if I hadn't stayed calm and would've flinched or freaked out at all I could easily have been shot, it was in very close quarters so I'm sure any move I made in his direction would've been interpreted as an attack. Obviously, not bad at all in comparison to the types of things that police do on a regular basis.
I understand that initially they came in expecting some kind of burglary situation in which I could have been dangerous, but common sense would've said that when the hours posted on the store say it closes at 9:00 and it's 9:10, with one car in the parking lot and all of the store lights on, the person inside probably works there. And when they're in the bathroom, they're probably just using the bathroom.
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[–] anonomale 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I worked in a small local convenient store for my first couple years of college. Small town, had zero actual problems ever. We closed at 9 PM, the biggest problem I ever had was old ladies trying to stay past closing to keep playing scratch-off tickets. As luck would have it, in one such instance they got pissed at me for cutting them off when I had to close, so they went out to their cars in the parking lot to scratch the tickets.
I really had to use the bathroom, which I typically didn't do at work since I lived a block away. Most of the time there was only one person working the store at once, so I was hurrying to sweep, count down registers, take out trash, etc. While I was on the way to the bathroom I figured I'd throw the trash in the dumpster out back while I was at it, the trouble started when I didn't notice that the door hadn't shut all of the way.
Made me way to the one working bathroom (had a "women" sign on it, I worked with all women), sat down, had my headphones in and was scrolling through my email. It was a really small bathroom, maybe 4x4 -- pretty much just enough room for the toilet, the sink, and to open the door. I thought I'd heard a thump, and figured maybe one of the people I worked with had come back in to get something they'd forgotten. Next thing I know the door is kicked in and there's a gun drawn and pointed at my dick, more or less. Legitimately thought "Huh, I'm getting robbed and I'm going to get shot and die while taking a shit. That's a pretty funny way to go out."
Once the initial shock passed, I realized it was a cop who was barking orders at me to stand up, hands up, etc. I recognized most of the cops in town -- again, small place -- and realized he must have been new. There was an older cop in the back who immediately realized the situation and was stifling laughter. The rookie, however, still had a gun drawn on me and was clearly in adrenaline mode. I basically talked him down enough to get cleaned up and whatnot, since I knew I wasn't doing anything wrong. Didn't help that, since I lived nearby, I didn't have identification on me and had to go through a long process of explaining that I worked there. Basically the dude that pointed the gun at me just wanted to try and act like he really needed to make sure I really did work there (it should've been pretty obvious when I demonstrated that I had the keys to the place), I figure he thought if he treated the situation seriously it would justify what he did. Older cop was just cracking jokes, he was pretty alright.
I don't have proof, but if I had to guess I'd assume that it was the old ladies that saw me throwing garbage in the dumpster and decided to call me in as a 'burglar', knowing full well that I wasn't. Or maybe they genuinely didn't know, they weren't especially sharp. It's a funny story to tell now, but in hindsight the rookie was using zero common sense, and if I hadn't stayed calm and would've flinched or freaked out at all I could easily have been shot, it was in very close quarters so I'm sure any move I made in his direction would've been interpreted as an attack. Obviously, not bad at all in comparison to the types of things that police do on a regular basis.
I understand that initially they came in expecting some kind of burglary situation in which I could have been dangerous, but common sense would've said that when the hours posted on the store say it closes at 9:00 and it's 9:10, with one car in the parking lot and all of the store lights on, the person inside probably works there. And when they're in the bathroom, they're probably just using the bathroom.