This past summer, my daughter Kelly got her first "real" job at a pizza shop. She had earned money before, washing cars and sweeping driveways and babysitting... but this was the first job where she actually was on a time clock and got paychecks with taxes taken out.
She was thrilled one night to be chosen to man the cash register at the front of the store. It was much more exciting than bussing tables and wiping down the salad bar. It was her first time doing the register on her own. She called me about 15 minutes before her shift ended to tell me that she was doing well and that she would be ready to be picked up at 9 p.m.
There were flashing lights bouncing off the glass and concrete as I pulled into the parking lot. Police cars surrounded the pizza shop. Through the glass I could see Kelly talking to two cops, who were listening intently to what she was saying. Oh geez, I thought. Is she in trouble? Did she try to take money out of the register?
A few minutes later, she walked out and got in the car. "What's going on in there?" I asked.
"Oh, about 10 minutes ago some guy came into the store, pointed a gun at me and told me to give him all the money," she said calmly.
Her demeanor was so ... unruffled. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to be held up at gunpoint. I quickly realized she was in shock and had not fully absorbed what had just happened.
"Weren't there customers in the store? And other employees?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but it all happened so quick that it took people a few minutes to figure out what was going on." The robber had told her to get the manager, who cleared out the safe and put it all in the getaway bag - a Nike backpack.
When a crisis happens, some people instinctively become very calm and are able to keep their heads in order to get through the incident. I never thought Kelly, who can be a typical high-maintenance teenager, would be this way. But she stayed quiet, following orders, doing what she needed to do to keep herself and her fellow employees safe, all the while taking close notice of everything about the man, from his clothes to his physical description (tuft of blonde hair peeking out from underneath the ski mask) to his exit strategy.
I don't think they ever caught the robber. It was a ballsy and well-coordinated theft. Kelly worked at the pizza place just a few more weeks before giving notice.
