Mama mia!
I will never complain about being bored at my usual site again!
So dig this - I'm at this supermarket, over in the pharmacy section, because the alarm isn't functional and there are going to be outside contractors working inside, and I'm to see that they don't rip off any of the stuff in the pharmacy. Simple, right?
I start at 2200. The pharmacy closes at 2200. The store itself closes at 0000. The workers also aren't slated to show up until then. Hmmmm.
So to earn my keep, I patrol a bit, but just in the pharmacy. Eventually a loss prevention officer (one of those guys that pretends to be a shopper but is really watching your thieving ass) comes over and asks why I'm not posted out front, since I'm screwing up his grabs. Seems that a guy who was trying to steal vitamins (I saw him too) would grab, see my bright yellow jacket, put them back. Grab them again, see my bright yellow jacket, put them back again. Repeat ad nauseum.
So I explained that I was attached to the pharmacy for tonight, and he calmed down. Of course, when someone that looks like a shopper comes up to me and asks "Shouldn't you be out by the front door?" without identifying himself, the first thing I think is "Why don't you finish your shopping and leave me to do my job, prick." Luckily I didn't say that.
Anyway, so I confined my "patrol" to the aisle that was right next to the dispensing counter. I would walk back and forth along there, looking at the aisles that radiated off of it. Took nineteen steps. I know, I counted. Repeatedly. Sigh.
Oddly enough, I did deter a fair number of shoplifters. That guilty jerk and suddenly something is back on the shelf, or rattling on the floor, coinciding with my appearance was... amusing. Since I never get any human interaction at my usual site, it was interesting to actually have an effect. :)
Well, I also had the effect of making groups of 15-25 year olds giggle nervously when they were over at the condoms display (apparently a much shoplifted item, incidentally) trying to decide whether to go for the ribbed or the french ticklers. I also made them giggle nervously and make a comment about "being arrested" when they'd see me seeing them over by the foot care products.
I got to watch what a supermarket goes through when it's closed. I've never worked in one, or in any retail job really, so it was kind of interesting. There are people that make their entire living mopping the floor of that supermarket every night. Ditto the sweepers and glass cleaners. Someone buffs the floor every night. Not a one of these people are native to Canada. It was kind of like a bad cliche.
0600 rolls around, and I leave. Being tired and not inclined to try to find a public washroom open for me to change out of my uniform, I head for the SkyTrain in full kit. I would normally avoid this, as I don't want my ass kicked by some twit who got roughed up by security once, or by packs of malcontents who think I'm a cop. However...
There were already crowds on their way to and from transit. And they melted away from me. Not out of fear or anything (at least I hope not), but it was very noticeable. I got more space with the jacket on than I do without.
On the platform, there was a solid three meter bubble around me.
On the train, and the buses that followed, people would keep eyeballing me. Also, they'd sit farther away. There were two exceptions to this.
One was elderly people. These people were always alone, and they'd catch my eye, smile, and sit in my immediate vicinity. This applied to both genders
The other group was young Asian females. Not all of them, but several would do the same as the other group - they'd smile and come over. Some of them even pointed me out to the rest of their group before coming over and sitting or standing around me.
I'm unsure what to make of this.
I'm not going to make a habit of wearing my uniform though, since I'd hate for someone to come up to me with an actual problem thinking I can help them, since when I'm not on duty I'm not legally allowed to act like a security officer, and thus wearing the uniform might be misleading.
It's the same sort of thing as how it's illegal to have fake video cameras in your place of business.
Anyway, that was how I spent my night off. Tonight - to the regular site! (Possibly with a new appreciation!)
And consider the following from Stephen Roach, the chief economist at Morgan Stanley: "America has no better than a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic 'armageddon'.''
And then: "To finance its current account deficit with the rest of the world, he said, America has to import $2.6 billion in cash. Every working day.
That is an amazing 80 percent of the entire world's net savings."
Read the entire article here.
Also: "Michael Koubi worked for Shin Bet, Israel's security service, for 21 years and was its chief interrogator from 1987 to 1993. He interrogated hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including renowned militants such as Sheikh Yassin, the former leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, who was killed in an Israeli attack this year. He claims that intelligence gained in interrogation has been crucial to protecting Israel from terrorism. He tells Michael Bond that, given enough time, he could make almost anyone talk"
Intrigued? Oddly enough, it's an article titled "Meet the people shaping the future of science". Read the interview here.
So dig this - I'm at this supermarket, over in the pharmacy section, because the alarm isn't functional and there are going to be outside contractors working inside, and I'm to see that they don't rip off any of the stuff in the pharmacy. Simple, right?
I start at 2200. The pharmacy closes at 2200. The store itself closes at 0000. The workers also aren't slated to show up until then. Hmmmm.
So to earn my keep, I patrol a bit, but just in the pharmacy. Eventually a loss prevention officer (one of those guys that pretends to be a shopper but is really watching your thieving ass) comes over and asks why I'm not posted out front, since I'm screwing up his grabs. Seems that a guy who was trying to steal vitamins (I saw him too) would grab, see my bright yellow jacket, put them back. Grab them again, see my bright yellow jacket, put them back again. Repeat ad nauseum.
So I explained that I was attached to the pharmacy for tonight, and he calmed down. Of course, when someone that looks like a shopper comes up to me and asks "Shouldn't you be out by the front door?" without identifying himself, the first thing I think is "Why don't you finish your shopping and leave me to do my job, prick." Luckily I didn't say that.
Anyway, so I confined my "patrol" to the aisle that was right next to the dispensing counter. I would walk back and forth along there, looking at the aisles that radiated off of it. Took nineteen steps. I know, I counted. Repeatedly. Sigh.
Oddly enough, I did deter a fair number of shoplifters. That guilty jerk and suddenly something is back on the shelf, or rattling on the floor, coinciding with my appearance was... amusing. Since I never get any human interaction at my usual site, it was interesting to actually have an effect. :)
Well, I also had the effect of making groups of 15-25 year olds giggle nervously when they were over at the condoms display (apparently a much shoplifted item, incidentally) trying to decide whether to go for the ribbed or the french ticklers. I also made them giggle nervously and make a comment about "being arrested" when they'd see me seeing them over by the foot care products.
I got to watch what a supermarket goes through when it's closed. I've never worked in one, or in any retail job really, so it was kind of interesting. There are people that make their entire living mopping the floor of that supermarket every night. Ditto the sweepers and glass cleaners. Someone buffs the floor every night. Not a one of these people are native to Canada. It was kind of like a bad cliche.
0600 rolls around, and I leave. Being tired and not inclined to try to find a public washroom open for me to change out of my uniform, I head for the SkyTrain in full kit. I would normally avoid this, as I don't want my ass kicked by some twit who got roughed up by security once, or by packs of malcontents who think I'm a cop. However...
There were already crowds on their way to and from transit. And they melted away from me. Not out of fear or anything (at least I hope not), but it was very noticeable. I got more space with the jacket on than I do without.
On the platform, there was a solid three meter bubble around me.
On the train, and the buses that followed, people would keep eyeballing me. Also, they'd sit farther away. There were two exceptions to this.
One was elderly people. These people were always alone, and they'd catch my eye, smile, and sit in my immediate vicinity. This applied to both genders
The other group was young Asian females. Not all of them, but several would do the same as the other group - they'd smile and come over. Some of them even pointed me out to the rest of their group before coming over and sitting or standing around me.
I'm unsure what to make of this.
I'm not going to make a habit of wearing my uniform though, since I'd hate for someone to come up to me with an actual problem thinking I can help them, since when I'm not on duty I'm not legally allowed to act like a security officer, and thus wearing the uniform might be misleading.
It's the same sort of thing as how it's illegal to have fake video cameras in your place of business.
Anyway, that was how I spent my night off. Tonight - to the regular site! (Possibly with a new appreciation!)
And consider the following from Stephen Roach, the chief economist at Morgan Stanley: "America has no better than a 10 percent chance of avoiding economic 'armageddon'.''
And then: "To finance its current account deficit with the rest of the world, he said, America has to import $2.6 billion in cash. Every working day.
That is an amazing 80 percent of the entire world's net savings."
Read the entire article here.
Also: "Michael Koubi worked for Shin Bet, Israel's security service, for 21 years and was its chief interrogator from 1987 to 1993. He interrogated hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including renowned militants such as Sheikh Yassin, the former leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, who was killed in an Israeli attack this year. He claims that intelligence gained in interrogation has been crucial to protecting Israel from terrorism. He tells Michael Bond that, given enough time, he could make almost anyone talk"
Intrigued? Oddly enough, it's an article titled "Meet the people shaping the future of science". Read the interview here.
posted by Rimmy at 08:03
1 Comments:
It was, in fact, a chain. They have a regular guy on in the evenings (from my company) out front, and he's the one the LPOs call to actually make the grabs, so that they can remain anonymous.
Which makes it even weirder that he was irritated at me. And no, they're not there to actually prevent the shoplifters per se - they're looking to spot people doing it and then nab them as they leave the store, since you can then get the police involved and *that's* meant to be the deterent... for the next time they think of stealing. :P
But... I don't have loss figures for this store, but one of the mobile guys told me that we used to do security for one of the Bay (Hudson's Bay) stores (which is odd since you'd think the chain would decide on who to use, not individual stores, but ah well) and when the initial assessment was done, they'd lose something like $50000 to $100000 a MONTH from people stealing. I mean, holy fucking SHIT!
Anyway, yes there's more risk in making an arrest, but you'll notice it's not the LPOs doing that actual stop - it's us lower paid guys. :P
And I have no idea why he was cheesed. But cheesed he was.
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