Two dudes walk into a store...

Last night at work, we had an unusual and disconcerting incident. Two men came in to fix the ATM that a local bank has placed near our entrance. They were unprofessional, unkempt, rude, and very late for doing a job like that. One was in dark clothing that said 'security' on the back, but neither of them bore any kind of insignia or company name. The only thing that made them look remotely legitimate was that the part they said they needed had been shipped to the store... and anyone can do that. If I knew your address, I could have something shipped to your house right now.

When they wanted to stay after close to work on the ATM, my boss told them absolutely not. She didn't want to stick around, and neither did I, with these two. They argued, but she sent them out of the store. We finished up with our last two customers, went through the rest of the closing process, and got ready to leave... half an hour late... and stopped short at the door when we saw that those guys were still outside in their cars. Neither of them were doing anything that required them to still be there... just fiddling with their dashboards and their clothes. 

My boss and I talked about the situation. The guys were unkempt, unidentified, rude & pushy, and armed. The 'security' guy had a gun. Though that's normal for working with an ATM, the level of unprofessionalism displayed was not. Finally, it was the loitering that did it for us. They weren't going to be able to get back in to fix the ATM. No one was going to be here. They weren't making phone calls or working on any kind of electronic devices, just staring back at us whenever we looked out at them... and THAT was creepy.

We called the police, not to arrest the guys, but to just show up and make sure we got out safely. Five minutes before the police arrived, the guys finally left the front lot, but as we admitted to the officers, didn't see when they left and didn't know if they hadn't just driven around behind the store. They didn't leave until we weren't watching them any more. Of course, the officers both reassured us that we'd done the right thing, that you don't take chances where there are strangers acting oddly, especially if there is a gun. I felt a lot better about us calling them when he put it that way.

Didn't realize, though, how creeped out I was by all of that until I dreamed this:

I'm really tired, having not gotten right to sleep when I got home last night. Opening is not going to be fun, especially since it's my first time. To make matters worse, traffic is nuts for a Saturday morning, and I'm not as early as I wanted to be. I wanted to have time to account for any errors or brain farts, without having any difficulty getting the registers going before the first shopper arrives. By the time I get within a block of my store, it's almost time to open the doors to customers.

At the light, I can see the store front, and something doesn't look right. It's hard to tell from where I'm sitting. When the light changes, and I drive into the lot, I realize what it is. There's a huge piece of glass cut out of one of the big windows. Looking inside, I can see that the ATM is gone.

I don't even get out of the van. I know the thieves are probably not still in there, but probably isn't good enough. I to a business across the street and use their phone to call the police. I wait there for them to arrive. As I am waiting, I see a car drive into our lot. A man gets out, goes to the doors, tries them, and looks at his watch. It's only a couple of minutes to open, and I'm not ready for customers... I'm not even in the store. The guy looks miffed, but there's nothing I can do from over here. Then, he looks at the cut glass. I think maybe he will call the police, but instead he starts visually measuring whether he can get in that way.

A coworker's vehicle drives onto the lot. At this point, I decide I have to go over there for her safety, so I tell the guys at the shop where I am that I'm going. The police will be arriving any moment anyway.

Because of the intersection's ridiculous design, it takes me 5 minutes and three turns to drive across the street. By that time, the customer is haranguing my coworker, who doesn't even know what is going on. He's badgering her to climb in through the window and open the store because he wants cigarettes. I had been going to apologize to him for the inconvenience and explain about the robbery, but he's being so belligerent and abusive to her that I just tell him the police are coming and ask him to leave. He gives me an incredulous look, points at the window, tells me, "I did NOT do that!" and starts insisting that I am not allowed to call the police. I ask, "Then how did you know that was what I was talking about? Maybe you should leave before they get here."

The guy leaves, and a moment later the police arrive. I let everyone into the store, and I head upstairs with the officers. That is when, and where, I realize... I don't know the security camera system's commands for going back to specific times. It doesn't just have rewind and play. You have to actually go through a menu and select terms, the words used for which do not really fit what you are trying to make the video do. I'm going to have to call my boss and have her come in to help them. And in the meantime, there are now three customers waiting at the register with cash, and I don't have one open. I get into the safe, grab a drawer, and start counting to confirm the amount.

In reality, there is no way those guys would have gotten the heavy ATM out that window, and even if they had, the activity would have set off the alarm. My boss would have had a middle of the night phone call, and the whole thing would have been taken care of before I got there. And I'm not opening today. I'm closing again. The ATM isn't fixed. I hope that if those guys were legit, there's someone else on the task today and not them. What kind of a bank sends creepy dudes who don't even know how to comb the tangles out of their hair and press their uniforms to work on a store's ATM at closing time, anyway?