You're being watched!

When I was in high school in La Marque, Texas, in 1960, I had a job at a local supermarket. It was located a little less than a mile from our home and only a few blocks away from the high school where I attended. I worked, stocking shelves, mopping floors, breaking down cardboard boxes (that were then compacted, bundled and trucked away). I also worked as a bag-boy, and since I hustled and was friendly to the stores' customers and remembered peoples' names and their vehicles, I made a lot of money in tips! It was a great job. I had no need for spending money, since I worked all the time, it seemed. I only rarely went out with a few friends from the La Marque church of Christ Wednesday and Sunday nights for a hamburger or a coke. Because of this, I had plenty of money to buy our families' groceries. Just like it had been at an earlier time when I had a paper route in Dallas, it felt really good to be a contributing member of our family, and not just another mouth to feed. I always enjoyed being a giver, not just a taker. It felt great! I loved it-- and felt needed and appreciated and vital to our family's well-being.

Over time, I became known at the grocery store as someone who was honest and dependable. I was given a tougher job, and I felt a little (no, make that a LOT) like a detective, or a private eye! Theft was a big problem at Evans Grocery--theft-- and there was a need for 'surveillance' of the customers and even a few of the employees. There was a catwalk around the store, up high around the perimeter of the interior of the store. There were one-way mirrors every few feet, and my job, after my 'promotion', was to walk the catwalk for my entire shift each day, back and forth, all around the store, watching customers. It was a lonely job. I was up there, in the semi-darkened corridor all day each day. It wasn't hard work, although it required a lot of walking.

It was surprising to me how many people were shoplifters. The thieves who frequented Evans Grocery Store were from all races, all ages and included men and women, boys and girls. The items stolen ranged from needles and thread to large packaged hams! I saw many items disappear into pockets and purses, shirts and blouses...even into socks and hats!

Most of the shoplifters were easily 'profiled', as they would look around, tentative about their intentions. Their body language, however, was, after a short time on the job, easy for me to predict. They gave it away, by their demeanor. They 'telegraphed their intentions.' Most of them didn't have the presence of mind to act naturally. If they had acted naturally, most would have gotten away with theft, unless randomly chosen as someone of interest to watch.

My job was to watch-- to 'catch people in the act', follow them to the front of the store, without losing sight of them (so they didn't return the items to the store shelves and make the store guilty of falsely accusing them). I would then then press a button to alert the store manager, so he could head toward the front doors while I hurriedly came down the stairs to join him at the front door and point out the shoplifter.

I enjoyed this job, a lot, even though I had to do it alone, up on the catwalk. I could see the customers but they couldn't see me. I became very good at this work, and did not make mistakes. My 'busts' were 'righteous busts', and I didn't get the store manager into trouble by falsely accusing people. Not one time.

The ones who really surprised me were the old people -- men and women, who looked like anybody's little old grandma or grandpa. Some of them had the sweetest countenances. Often the items stolen were not expensive items, but were items most easily concealed. Sometimes, before an item was snatched, the thief would make 'dry runs', looking at the items and then circling back, like a shark, before committing himself or herself to the act of theft.

The biggest 'bust' of my career in surveillance at Evans Grocery was a huge woman of indeterminate race, who waddled behind her grocery cart, right into the stockroom where there were public bathrooms. I made a mental note of the items in her basket, which included a large packaged ham. When she went into the stockroom area, I watched her disappear into the ladies' bathroom-- with the ham. Why would someone take a packaged ham into a dirty bathroom, if theft was not on the agenda? When she came out, she was not carrying the ham. She waddled back out of the stockroom area with her basket, heading for the front door. I flew down the stairs and then checked the ladies bathroom. No ham! I then ran to the front door, pausing to alert the manager. He and I walked to the front door, keeping an eye on our
'HAM-STER'.

She checked out at Mrs. Meisetschlager's cash register and headed for the front door. The manager took over, since I was just a kid, and not about to confront the woman. Besides, she was four times my size! A real whopper! She could've cleaned my plow!

The manager had to wait until she left the store to accost her. When he did, she became indignant, and took a swing at him with her purse. When she did, the ham fell from her skirt to the pavement! That was unbelievable! That ham was the size of a 8 or 9-lb. baby and it skidded a little on the concrete when it hit. She had held that ham between her massive thighs from the back of the store to the front door! The police came for that lady, and we all went back to work. We made a lot of ham jokes for a long time after that colorful event! I'll never forget it!

I didn't feel bad for her, since she was so angry at having been accused of theft. With some of the others who were caught, I felt bad, because they looked poor, or like they couldn't help themselves. I nearly always felt bad when it was a very young or very old person.

I had this cushy job until I was a senior in high school, in the fall of 1961, when Hurricane Carla wiped us out and we moved to Dallas. I learned a good bit about human nature in that job, and I learned how to excel at something through diligence and careful observation.

In today's world, we are all subject to scrutiny, if not in a manner quite as direct. Our comings and goings are scrutinized by electronic devices -- in stores, at toll gates, via our credit card purchases and the GPS devices in our automobiles...not to mention our buddies the IRS! People we do not know and never will know, have access to our medical records, the choices we make in our purchases or entertainment, our banking records and much more. It's a scary time we live in. How can we protect ourselves? These days you don't have to spiriting a ham from a grocery store to be under surveillance!