Clifton's Urban Champion [DP Store]

[digitalpress]

The day started like any other. A quiet morning of catching up with yesterday’s trade-ins, straightening out shelves, and the occasional customer here and there. Then the clock struck twelve. Two youngsters enter, maybe 15, 16 years old. The bigger one walks right up to the register and asks “Do you have an extra 30 cents [...]

More... (http://digitpress.com/blogs/digitalpress/archives/149)

[Ryaan1234]

I hope you compile all of these little stories into an "Acts of Gord" type collection. I'm having a lot of fun reading them all.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hah, AfroMan could've been me today...though I haven't been drinking.

That ending though... :o

THE VICTOR IS YOU!

[TonyTheTiger]

I have to pay attention a bit more. I don't remember seeing any 12 or 13 year olds at NAVA, let alone shady ones.

Oh, and don't knock Disney Princesses. Ariel in particular is top notch.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

But did one of them try and drop a flower-pot on your head from the apartment above the barber shop?

[MarioMania]

There's alot of slick people out there...Nice Job, getting that kid

[TheSmirk]

Good catch Joe, I remember those kids during the NAVA event, they were laughably obvious then....4 games is impressive under watch though, little buggers!

LOL @ The kid with the Disney Princesses trade in, too funny

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh, and don't knock Disney Princesses. Ariel in particular is top notch.
Kupomogli, is that you?

[NoahsMyBro]

Holy shit. In all my thoughts and ponderings about starting my own business, I've spent a huge amount of time agonizing about abstract fears like going broke, paperwork issues, legal matters, etc....

I never even considered the more tangible threats somebody like you would encounter in a retail setting.

You've got cajones like nobody else I've ever known. Wow.

In my internal dictionary, a pussy equals NOT YOU.

And, if you see anybody like that at future NAVAs, I'd be happy to help keep an eye on them, but I'll probably be oblivious. If you want an additional set of eyes, feel free to tap me on the shoulder and clue me in.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

4 games is impressive...the local store owners have taken to having pre-owned cases labeled as "New" on the shelves without the disks in them and keeping the sealed copies under lock and key due to theft. It works perfectly for PnT, since they need a demo copy.

This doesn't beat the guy who stole a plasma TV off the display at a local Circuit City though. :) The guy literally brought in his tools, unscrewed it off the display, and walked out the front door with the TV and no one noticed or stopped him. They even watched him walk out the door with it and told him "Have a good day." I'm sure he enjoyed his haul. I wonder why they went out of business...

[DDCecil]

Back in '98, I caught a kid stuffing a game down his pants, VMX Racing for PSX. My dad wasn't paying attention, but I saw the kid grab it off the shelf and hide it. I alerted my dad and he made the kid come into the back room and pull his pants down. Of course all the CDs were hidden in locked drawers, so the kid could of went to jail for stealing a case/manual, but my dad let him off with a warning.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Good catch Joe, I remember those kids during the NAVA event, they were laughably obvious then....4 games is impressive under watch though, little buggers!

LOL @ The kid with the Disney Princesses trade in, too funny

Was one of those kids the one who bought my TG16? Anyways, at the risk of sounding like a racist, I bet the reason that GTA: San Andreas is a big target for theft is because little punk white kids want to experience being in the hood and little black kids use it for training.

But, I will say this. If these little white kids want to experience ghetto life up close, I'd cordially invite them to the port part of Elizabeth. Especially Third Street. At 2am. Guaranteed they'd be cured.

BTW, did you have the kid arrested or did you let him walk?

[Flack]

Urban Champion, I'll let slide. If someone ever claims to be the Bourbon Champion, I shall challenge that person to a duel.

The next time you have kids casing the joint you should walk up to them with a digital camera and make up some story about how you are putting customer's pictures on the website and take their picture. It would even be funnier if you didn't say anything at all; while they're standing around looking suspicious, just walk up, look the other way, and CLICK (make sure the flash goes off).

Directly confronting shoplifters takes a bigger set of cojones than I have, Joe. Kudos to you bro.

[tubeway]

I alerted my dad and he made the kid come into the back room and pull his pants down.

awkwaaaaaarrrrd.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Urban Champion, I'll let slide. If someone ever claims to be the Bourbon Champion, I shall challenge that person to a duel.

The next time you have kids casing the joint you should walk up to them with a digital camera and make up some story about how you are putting customer's pictures on the website and take their picture. It would even be funnier if you didn't say anything at all; while they're standing around looking suspicious, just walk up, look the other way, and CLICK (make sure the flash goes off).

Directly confronting shoplifters takes a bigger set of cojones than I have, Joe. Kudos to you bro.

Even better, do what this one dollar store does around here. Take a picture of "problem customers" and put them up on the "Wall of Shame" and tell the staff that these people are not allowed in the store anymore.

[Steve W]

I still say the best way to dissuade the lil' children from attempting to shoplift is by killing one as an example to the others, and then placing his body on a pike in front of the store. Preferably with a sign hanging from the corpse saying "Shoplifters will be punished". :evil:

[boatofcar]

I meant to say this like 3 blogs ago, but thanks so much for finally moving your blog to DP and out of Myspace!

[Lerxstnj]

The real loser in the story is the one that purchases a game that was down some kid's pants!
:eek 2:

[Oobgarm]

lulz.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

lulz.

Unlike other Nintendo games, I hear that Joe approves of blowing that one to get it to work.

[Hep038]

Was one of those kids the one who bought my TG16? Anyways, at the risk of sounding like a racist, I bet the reason that GTA: San Andreas is a big target for theft is because little punk white kids want to experience being in the hood and little black kids use it for training.

But, I will say this. If these little white kids want to experience ghetto life up close, I'd cordially invite them to the port part of Elizabeth. Especially Third Street. At 2am. Guaranteed they'd be cured.

BTW, did you have the kid arrested or did you let him walk?


Yeah that sounded racist.

[digitalpress]

Catching up.


I hope you compile all of these little stories into an "Acts of Gord" type collection. I'm having a lot of fun reading them all.

I'm glad. I pulled all of the "memorable" stories from MySpace. I never wanted to post them there, and have written less and less as a result. I should be getting back into the swing of things now that the blogs are back home.



You've got cajones like nobody else I've ever known. Wow.

I guess maybe it seems like that from the outside. But imagine catching a guest in your home trying to steal something from you. It feels more like self-preservation than bravado.


Anyways, at the risk of sounding like a racist, I bet the reason that GTA: San Andreas is a big target for theft is because little punk white kids want to experience being in the hood and little black kids use it for training.

You know, we have a little rule in our FAQ that asks you to read your post before pressing submit. In your case specifically, you should really just NOT post if you have to preface a sentence with something like "at the risk of sounding racist". Just skip that thought and try something else.

I ask that until you've got the hang of that, please stop posting in threads that I create.


The next time you have kids casing the joint you should walk up to them with a digital camera and make up some story about how you are putting customer's pictures on the website and take their picture. It would even be funnier if you didn't say anything at all; while they're standing around looking suspicious, just walk up, look the other way, and CLICK (make sure the flash goes off).

You know, I've done this before at NAVA, sorta subconsciously but thinking if these wandering juveniles knew they were being photographed they would think twice about dipping their hands into my friends' trade boxes. Incorporating this into daily theft preventions sounds like a really good idea though, thanks!


I meant to say this like 3 blogs ago, but thanks so much for finally moving your blog to DP and out of Myspace!

Glad to oblige. I haven't "officially" launched the blogs yet, but they're open to anyone who wants to register. It's been running for about two weeks now and appears quite stable. I'm hunting for a theme (or editor) for Wordpress that makes them look a little more like the rest of the pages on DP.


The real loser in the story is the one that purchases a game that was down some kid's pants!
:eek 2:

You know, that went through my mind too. For what it's worth, I cleaned the boxes up as much as I could before returning them to the shelves. Then I soaked my hands in searing hot water. Any skin that I had that touched those boxes peeled off in blistery clumps.


lulz.

You're funny.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Awesome Story..

Good Going..

I remember the time I was at the store with my dad,and we were watching this kid who looked to be up to no good(looking over his shoulders)

My wife is constantly on the attack at her store with shoplifters...She catches a lot..(cameras)

I like when she calls me to tell me the details=which usually means the police taking down the perp in the store as he tries to run./watch it on video..

She's taken down many herself who try to plow through her when she stops them at the door...Once a guy dressed in a pathmark vest actually did push by her hard and is now being sought out on strong armed robbery charges.(caught on video)


Right now she's got a really big guy who stands in front of the door when the crooks try to run out with stuff...they bounce off him..:evil:

The most thing stolen from the local stores is chewing gum..boxes of chewing gum.
just yesterday I was at her store and they caught a guy trying to steal the whole box of Orbit Gum..

[BetaWolf47]

Let me be the buzzkill here. That Disney Princess story was mean. The fact that he was trading it in obviously meant he didn't want it, for whatever reason.

[TonyTheTiger]

Directly confronting shoplifters takes a bigger set of cojones than I have, Joe. Kudos to you bro.

When I worked at Blockbuster we suspected some people but never actually caught anybody in the act. At least I never did. That made it very difficult to build up the nerve to confront them because the last thing I'd want to do is feel the shame of being wrong after making an accusation. Granted, Blockbuster's merchandise wasn't my own personal property so it's not quite the same thing. I'm sure I'd be less cautious if I felt that my own stuff were at risk.


Kupomogli, is that you?

That went over my head so the wittiest response I can muster is "yes."


Let me be the buzzkill here. That Disney Princess story was mean. The fact that he was trading it in obviously meant he didn't want it, for whatever reason.

I still don't see what's so shameful about Disney Princesses.

[Greg2600]

Sounds very exciting Joe. Funny how Grand Theft Auto is often stolen. I also hope you windexed the games you took from the kid's pants. Back when I worked in my father's card store, watching the same idiots try to steal was really annoying. How stupid these kids were, they were stealing from a store 3 blocks from where they live, and we knew how to find their parents. Eventually I got completely sick of dealing with any kids older than 11 or 12, and was nasty to the rest. I was really, really jaded and grouchy by the end of 6 years of doing that. I'll clean toilets before they ever get me to work retail.

[y-bot]

Great story Joe. A few years ago I kicked two kids out of my work when I caught one of them shoplifting. I told them both they could never come back and the one who I didn't catch said he didn't have anything to do with it and was pretty upset about being banned. I told him he just learned a lesson about choosing his friends.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I just thought of something else. The reason people stuff things down their pants by their junk is because if the cops come, they usually don't search down there. It happens here all the time. The only way that a cop can search a private area is when the suspect is taken to the station and then they'd do a strip search.

That's a common thing here for when people carry knives, small arms, or even stolen items.

Just thought I'd give you a heads up as someone who not only has seen it, but unfortunately has been there. I lived partly on the streets in high school, so I've done a lot of things I wasn't proud of to survive.

[k8track]

I just thought of something else. The reason people stuff things down their pants by their junk is because if the cops come, they usually don't search down there.
Thanks for connecting the dots for us, Columbo.

[Oobgarm]

I wonder if the "Blaze" part in his name means he smokes cigars, too.

[The Shawn]

Just thought I'd give you a heads up as someone who not only has seen it, but unfortunately has been there. I lived partly on the streets in high school, so I've done a lot of things I wasn't proud of to survive.

I am reminded of An old Sabbath tune...


Johnny Blade:



Tortured and twisted, he walks the streets alone
People avoid him, they know the street's his own
Cold blade of silver, his eyes they burn so wild
Mean as a tiger, society's own child

Those that tried to burn him paid
You don't do that to Johnny Blade
He's the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade

Life has no meaning, and Death's his only friend
Will fate surprise him, where will he meet his end?
He feels so bitter, yes he's so full of hate
To die in the gutter, I guess that's Johnny's fate

Rivals all across the land
He kills them with his knife in hand
He's the meanest guy around his town
One look and he will cut you down
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade
Johnny Blade, Johnny Blade

Well you know that Johnny's a spider
And his web is the city at night
He's a victim of modern frustration
That's the reason he's so ready to fight

He's the one that should be afraid
What will happen to you, Johnny Blade?

Oh he knows his future's decided
And he ain't gonna change it, no way
He was born to die in the gutter
He'll keep fighting `till the end of his days

Been alone all through his life
His only friend is a switchblade knife
He's the one who should be afraid
What will happen to you, Johnny Blade?

You fool the people
Who's fooling who?
It's time to listen
Who's fool are you?

[JohnnyBlaze]

That sounds like something that I would write. Except for the switchblade and "meanest guy in town" parts, that pretty much describes my life in a nutshell. I'm guessing now Joe knows why I like metal so much(he found out at NAVA ;) ) I can relate with a lot of the darker tones.

Anyways, let's get back on topic:

Joe, have you considered having one employee on the floor and another at the register? Sometimes when I go, you're the only one there. I for one would be glad to give you a hand at the store...if it didn't cost $20 for each trip.

Go ahead, make fun of me saying that it's already been thought of, but I'm only trying to help by giving possibilities to make sure this doesn't happen again.

[PapaStu]

Go ahead, make fun of me saying that it's already been thought of, but I'm only trying to help by giving possibilities to make sure this doesn't happen again.


Stopping theft is next to impossible, save for locking everything up. Doing that kills sales. People are often much more likely to buy something when they can get their grubby little paws on it. Besides, they get enough 'Can i see that in the case' stuff as it is. Making everything behind glass would make brains asplode.

I worked retail for years, in a store that sold music, movies games. We never had less than 2 people working and during the day often had 4-5 (with 2 on average on the floor at any given time). That never stopped stealing one bit. I was there on an off day, watched a dude walk up to an endcap and grab a N64 system box and run out of the store like his pants were on fire. He didn't even notice that it was empty till he was 2 blocks down the road when he had dropped it on the sidewalk. It sure didn't matter that there was an employee next to him stocking cd's and that he did it an arms lenght from the counter and a employee watching his every move. I've got dozens of other stories of people stuffing cds/games into pants/jackets/bags snuck in under clothes.

I'm glad Joe got the kid before he got out of the store, but one thing I learned back in my retail hell was, get em at the door. Catching them in action/on the way to the door, they (if smart enough) have the 'I was going to pay for that' escape, yes even when shoving something down ones pants. Once at the door, is the only place we could get them, and when they got outside, we let them go. At no point is it ever worth a persons life for a bunch of games/cds/whatever. Sure we'd call the police, file a report, hand over security tapes, but never never never would we go out afterwords. You never know when that kid is going to freak and do something stupid like throw a punch, pull a weapon.

I will admit to a nice twang of power when we did catch someone and did put them in their places. That felt good.

[JohnnyBlaze]

At no point is it ever worth a persons life for a bunch of games/cds/whatever. Sure we'd call the police, file a report, hand over security tapes, but never never never would we go out afterwords. You never know when that kid is going to freak and do something stupid like throw a punch, pull a weapon.

I was going to say the same thing, but since so far in this topic, everyone has found time to throw jabs at me for simply stating the obvious. I live in a bad neighborhood, so I see this every day and some "ideas" of mine are things people actually do here(i.e. have employees on the floor, put games behind the counter, put games in swing cases where you can see front and back, why certain games get stolen, etc). I didn't want to give anyone more ammunition to throw at me.

Although, I really want to thank Shawn for the song. I listen to Sabbath here and there and never gave this a shot. Like I said, I have a new theme song. LOL