Robbery Without a Gun

When I was 17-18 years old, I worked as a waiter at a barbeque restaurant in my hometown. (This was after my stint at the Chick-a-burger.) Usually I worked in the main restaurant, but sometimes I’d be put to work on a party in one of the four back rooms, and on rare occasions I’d be put at the take-out counter.

One night when I was at the take-out counter, I got swindled. A man came in during our busiest time, and ordered an iced tea. I poured his tea, and rang up the sale.

The man handed me a $20 bill (for a sale of less than a dollar). As I started pulling his change out of the register, he interrupted me to give me a different combo of money to pay for the tea. He had me giving him back his twenty, taking his change, receiving more money, making more change, and pretty quickly and easily he had me completely lost.

The whole transaction took less than two minutes, and then he left with his tea, and with forty extra bucks in his pocket. I had a feeling that he had cheated me, but he was so skilled and smooth with it all that I couldn’t figure out exactly what had happened.

I was just 17 years old, and had never even heard of someone doing a trick like that. I’d never been told to look out for such cons, or what to do when I suspect one is happening. All I knew about running a register was that you’re supposed to be nice to the customer.

After the man left, and I closed the register (still not totally sure what had happened), a middle-age woman customer spoke up to me, “He just worked a con on you.”

My coworker, another middle-age woman, commented, “Yeah, he got that over on you.”

I didn’t say it at the time, but I definitely thought, “Well why the hell didn’t either of you speak up while the guy was doing it?” I mean, at least the coworker should have done something — she was older, more experienced, and more senior.

It right pissed me off at the time that they both just let it happen. And then they felt the need to virtually point at me and laugh.

But upon thinking on it later, I came to think neither woman actually realized what was happening until the man walked out. I think they were as surprised and lost as I was. But it still annoyed me that both felt the need to tell me I got conned without any sympathy or advice.

Then, just recently, I think I was an outside witness to such a con. To be continued.

Bullgrit