Post by Charlene on Jun 22, 2003 8:46:01 GMT -5
Last night, my son called at 12:30 am and told his dad that he was at a restaurant owned by a friend. There were only 7 people in the place, him, his girlfriend, three employees and two "customers".
My kids of course are probably a little more.....aware of their surroundings than kids who haven't spent the last ten years with a mother "obsessed" with murder and telling constant cautionary tales. My son felt that the behavior of the customers was strange; they had ordered no food and were just ordering beer, babysitting it for 30 minutes or more, then ordering a water, then another beer. They seemingly had no purpose in being there, were overly friendly with my son and his girlfriend, etc.
As time went on, they did other things that made my son feel like they were "casing the joint" for a robbery. When the staff would open the register, they made an excuse to walk by. They left the restaurant once and my son went to his car to observe and write their license plate number down & call us with it. They didn't leave but drove over a curb and parked in a non-parking area, closer to the front door and went back in.
After my husband got off the phone, I called my son back on his cell and told him to call the police. He said that they didn't want to do that because the guys really weren't doing anything - police in this large of a city don't much like being called because you think something is fishy. I told my son to get the hell out of there; he felt stuck because, if evil WAS in their plan, they would be more likely to rob the restaurant with only three employees there. He felt he could not abandon his friends. He said the security guard for the complex had been alerted and was supposed to stop by every 15 mins or so.
I talked to my son for at least half an hour on his cell phone, reluctant to not know what was happening at all times. The bizarre behavior continued with the guys coming to my son's table to buy a cigarette for a dollar, and they asked my son's girlfriend who he was talking to! She said she didn't know.
Being me, I looked up the license plate number on a public information database that I subscribe to. I told my son the name of the person the truck was licensed to. He started to write down the name, and the guys got up and walked over, on the pretext of buying another cigarette. They appeared to be trying to read what my son had written and he covered it with his arm. I heard as they asked my son who he was talking to. He said, "My mom. She's on vacation in Puerto Rico."
They went towards the bar again and my son said they were going to order another beer. By this time, it had been 45 minutes since the security guard had been by. I told my son to have his friend call the security company and find out why in the heck they had not been around for so long. We hung up.
My son called back 5 minutes later and said that instead of ordering another beer, they had left hurriedly. They all felt that the guy had seen his name written on the paper and got nervous. I told my son to leave as soon as he felt comfortable and to call the police if they returned. He promised he would.
Two or three minutes later, he called me and said, "They're back. I am calling the police." I said good and we hung up. After an interminable wait, my son called again and said the police had come quickly, and after my son told him everything, he said that the behavior was certainly suspicious and definitely sounded like they were planning a robbery. The police officer went in and told the men they had to leave because they were acting strange and there had been a lot of robberies in that area recently. There was no argument, no indignation, just 'yes officer, of course officer.' Again, not normal.
The end of the story is that my son stayed until closing time, left after seeing his friends safely on their way, and called me as soon as he was on the road towards home and then popped his head in my room to let me know he was here okay. And the whole night, all I could think of was how easily I could have become "one of you". How easily we all could become a MVS on any given day! I probably think about this too much, but most people don't think about it at all.
My kids of course are probably a little more.....aware of their surroundings than kids who haven't spent the last ten years with a mother "obsessed" with murder and telling constant cautionary tales. My son felt that the behavior of the customers was strange; they had ordered no food and were just ordering beer, babysitting it for 30 minutes or more, then ordering a water, then another beer. They seemingly had no purpose in being there, were overly friendly with my son and his girlfriend, etc.
As time went on, they did other things that made my son feel like they were "casing the joint" for a robbery. When the staff would open the register, they made an excuse to walk by. They left the restaurant once and my son went to his car to observe and write their license plate number down & call us with it. They didn't leave but drove over a curb and parked in a non-parking area, closer to the front door and went back in.
After my husband got off the phone, I called my son back on his cell and told him to call the police. He said that they didn't want to do that because the guys really weren't doing anything - police in this large of a city don't much like being called because you think something is fishy. I told my son to get the hell out of there; he felt stuck because, if evil WAS in their plan, they would be more likely to rob the restaurant with only three employees there. He felt he could not abandon his friends. He said the security guard for the complex had been alerted and was supposed to stop by every 15 mins or so.
I talked to my son for at least half an hour on his cell phone, reluctant to not know what was happening at all times. The bizarre behavior continued with the guys coming to my son's table to buy a cigarette for a dollar, and they asked my son's girlfriend who he was talking to! She said she didn't know.
Being me, I looked up the license plate number on a public information database that I subscribe to. I told my son the name of the person the truck was licensed to. He started to write down the name, and the guys got up and walked over, on the pretext of buying another cigarette. They appeared to be trying to read what my son had written and he covered it with his arm. I heard as they asked my son who he was talking to. He said, "My mom. She's on vacation in Puerto Rico."
They went towards the bar again and my son said they were going to order another beer. By this time, it had been 45 minutes since the security guard had been by. I told my son to have his friend call the security company and find out why in the heck they had not been around for so long. We hung up.
My son called back 5 minutes later and said that instead of ordering another beer, they had left hurriedly. They all felt that the guy had seen his name written on the paper and got nervous. I told my son to leave as soon as he felt comfortable and to call the police if they returned. He promised he would.
Two or three minutes later, he called me and said, "They're back. I am calling the police." I said good and we hung up. After an interminable wait, my son called again and said the police had come quickly, and after my son told him everything, he said that the behavior was certainly suspicious and definitely sounded like they were planning a robbery. The police officer went in and told the men they had to leave because they were acting strange and there had been a lot of robberies in that area recently. There was no argument, no indignation, just 'yes officer, of course officer.' Again, not normal.
The end of the story is that my son stayed until closing time, left after seeing his friends safely on their way, and called me as soon as he was on the road towards home and then popped his head in my room to let me know he was here okay. And the whole night, all I could think of was how easily I could have become "one of you". How easily we all could become a MVS on any given day! I probably think about this too much, but most people don't think about it at all.