Bob in Action

As I was walking through the streets of New York City with the large buildings looming in the sky, I had a random craving for some chips. Since I was off duty I decided to walk to the nearest store which was a little Alta gas station with its fluorescent lights buzzing on the ceiling. The door made a ringing noise as I walked in, some guy with a beanie and baggy clothes looked up from the candy section, I nodded smiling then walked over to the chips and found some Frito Barbecue Twists, I grabbed them off the hook and thought about my mouth getting dry, so I got some Arizona green tea. I walked by the ice cream box where another guy was standing with a backpack, checking out Blue Bell ice cream. I passed him saying “How's it going?” and went over to pay for my goods. The man at the counter looked worried but determined as I set my food down, took my wallet-that was right next to my gun- and fished out a $10 bill. “Hey man, what's up?”I asked while doing all this. I started to hand him the 10 but he shook his hand and said “No, no don't buy, don't buy here!” In a thick accent. I stared at him confused, he was a middle-aged man, and from the looks and sounds of it seemed Chinese. Why wasn't he letting me buy my stuff? Just then I looked down and saw the cash register drawer open and all the slots that were supposed to be filled with cash, were empty. In my head I started to realize what was happening, the guys inside the store I walked by were robbing the place and the storekeeper was trying to keep me from getting hurt. I laughed in my head, what were the chances that I of all people walked into a robbery! I mean, one of the best secret agents with several awards and VIP security status. Ever since I was a kid I've wanted to be a police officer. I trained 3 hours a day during high school then went to West Point Military Academy and finally became one of the most accomplished agents in the field. These guys were toast. I quickly mapped all of the doors in my mind, while struggling to put my cash back, there was the entrance door which was a double, the bathrooms were down a hall with the janitors closet and the equipment room where there would be a lot of boxes, so I’ll keep them away from there. Next was hiding spots and blind spots, the isles were definitely blind spots and the robbers could take things off the shelves and throw them. The best thing to do is get the storekeeper to take cover and I will try to get the guys handcuffed. I spun around right quick as a flash and had my gun pointed at the beanie guy. He looked up, shock, then anger then fear flashed on his face, his hand twitched towards his hip where I knew his gun was, “Don’t you dare, you know I can pull this trigger faster than you could even attempt to grab at your gun, hands up and get on your knees,” I needed to do this as fast as I can because the ice cream guy had the money and legs that can run. He followed my instructions and I rushed over to handcuff him. I grabbed his gun, put it in my waist band and headed off the guy running for the door. I barely got there in time but his gun was already out and pointing, he moved over to the storekeeper and I yelled “Get down!” just as the ice cream guy was about to grab the storekeeper. The storekeeper ducked down, the second the robber was distracted I launched at him and landed with my gun on his head and his arms up, “Set your gun down and put your hands in the air,” I commanded, his face twisted with rage. He slowly put his gun on the counter and raised his hands, I turned him around and cuffed his arms behind his back. “Sit down next to your buddy and stay, I’m calling the cops to come pick you up” The Chinese man stood up looking bewildered, started to say something the stopped, started again but changed his mind, “Don’t worry sir,” I said reassuringly, “I am an enforcement officer and I am trained in these kinds of things, are you injured at all?” He shook his head and responded, “No, just scare,” “I understand, this is a very crazy thing to happen to you, to anyone really,” I turned to the robbers and said, “You must have some really good luck, a CIA agent walking into the middle of an armed robbery…you should buy some lottery tickets!”