Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., mocked cowardly senators last week by saying that, “If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes.” But Mark Laswell noted in the Wall Street Journal that shoe sellers, not including Al Bundy (in photo), don’t exactly have safe jobs.
“In the past two months alone, according to police reports, robbers have struck several shoe stores across the country. A Payless ShoeSource store in Philadelphia was held up on Jan. 16. At another Payless, in Palm Bay, Fla., near Melbourne, a man with a knife robbed the store on Dec. 26 and then demanded a kiss from a female clerk, police said. (Reader, she kissed him.) At the Boynton Beach Mall in Florida on Christmas Eve, according to police, a gang confrontation in a shoe store turned violent, leaving one victim dead from a gunshot wound. On Dec. 10 at the Shoe Biz store in South Bend, Ind., a man posing as a customer asked about children’s shoes and then threatened to ‘get violent’ unless he was given money. An employee handed over the store’s cash; the man also stole her cell phone. On and on the police blotter goes.”
OK, so maybe senators have it easy in comparison.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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12 Comments
Love the pic.
However, criminals will hit anywhere money exchanges hands. I don’t think shoe places are exactly high on the cha-ching factor.
Maybe they’re hitting places that feel safer and haven’t put up cameras?
Personally I feel any store that handles cash should install tamperproof video cameras for the protection of their employees.
I used to work at the old Safeway Store on the corner of Hillside and Douglas.The company offended many workers once, by installing cameras above the cash registers and by spying heavily on employees.Yes, there was some employee theft, but it was minor compared to the steak, hams and cigarettes we all saw walking out the door every day, unpaid for!The company would not hire armed, uniformed security to stand at the doors, which I think is very smart for a 24 hour grocery store to do.Instead, they only hired undercover cops. They caught some petty theft, but the focus was not on providing safety to the workers. Nice to have them there, but a much better deterent if customers see them! The company liked to tell us that, since the cops were not in uniform, the crooks had to guess if they were being watched or not. (This way, the security was only there a few days a week, saving money, so the bean counters thought.)Many of us started “arresting” shoplifters on our own, especially on days security wasn’t there, in order to prove that the theft problem was not, primarily, caused by employees.I once stopped a drunk guy on a bicycle with an entire garbage bag (also stolen, found the box) full of cigs he had stolen. The police wanted to let him go.Turns out he was some kind of informant to them, on other cases they thought were more important!I also had to deal with a crazy woman who always stole cans of coffee, of all things!She got arrested dozens of times. I once saw her kick the back window out of a squad car with her bare feet and crawl out!I also chased a guy to his car in the parking lot, only to see him do a couple of figure 8’s in his car, hitting at least 5 other cars, then high-center himself on the curb and flatten a tire by burning rubber until the tire burst.3 Years after I left Safeway, I was subpoenoed due to this guy being brought up on a “failure to appear” bench warrant.(I had carried him upstairs, previous to his escape. He ran away again as I was calling police. Later, after being removed from the car, he struck a female police officer. I made another, “officer down” call at that time. We had at least 10 squad cars there, County, City, Highway Patrol even showed up!)Anyway, this guy got off because, get this, at the time of his original hearing, he was at the State Hospital in Larned.Since he was in STATE custody, he had no duty to appear, the STATE had a duty to know where he was! Statute of Limitations does not apply to bench warrants, ordinarily, but it did THIS time!I discussed this case with then AG Bob Stephan and others. The computer system is much better now, I understand! This was all 25 years ago, at least!One week after I quit at Safeway (to be the “capitalist tool” I am now, JR, lol) — three people were stabbed!By the way, one of the guys I worked with at Safeway is now a very well known Sedgwick County Deputy. He got his start doing citizens arrests at a grocery store.—–Why do we put down those who work in retail?Fast food workers are taking a small hit at this Super Bowl it seems:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/02/D8N1QTSO1.htmlAll honest work has value.Every worker is making the humble statement that the world does not “owe” him or her a living.
If we really don’t like crime and if we really don’t like able bodied people to be on government hand-outs, shouldn’t we all stop looking down on those who work for a living, no matter what the job?
We make too many “do you want fries with that” put-down jokes, in this country, against those who actually want to contribute, than we should.
Those who work in retail and fast food get more insults than the criminals and welfare cheats combined.
Why is that?
I think Hagel was out of line, even if I have never sold shoes!
Speaking of crime, this actually happened last month. My younger daughter (26, and the only woman who could do this and get away with it) drug me to a Wal-Mart. For whatever reason, we were in the Customer Service line. A nice-looking guy, mid 30’s, comes up to a Wal Mart supervisor standing near us, and introduced himself to her, followed by his explanation that he was the guy who was “mugged” in the parking lot the previous night. Now, judging from this guy’s appearance, there had to be at least two, more likely three, muggers. (This guy could be playing tomorrow at 5:35). Anyway, he inquired as to the tapes from the security cameras in the parking lot and would they be made available to the PD. Seemingly uninterested, the Wal Mart supervisor told him that “IF anybody remembered to load fresh tapes in the machines, probably, but it doesn’t happen very often, and when they do, they simply put an old tape in and record over it, and, in any event, that was between Wal Mart and the PD, and how was she supposed to know?” By now, the guy is still polite and charming, and my daughter has a death grip on my arm, mouthing silently to me, “Do NOT say a word!!!!” And this was at Old Market Square (21st & Tyler) … not exactly what I would consider a high crime area.
Maybe Chuck Hagel should be selling shoes. He sure has no business being a U. S. Senator
Chuck Hagel, R-NE, VieNam veteran, is a hell of a lot better Senator than brown-nose Pat Roberts.
And, for Kansas, Ben, Roberts is the pick of the litter!
What makes you say that chris? What because he DARES to question the great georgie bush? If thems your criteria for a Senator we may have to reduce the size of the Senate to accomodate you and the 11 people that still support bush!kook
Well said, J R. Hagel was just fine for the right wingers until he stood up to King George. Then he became an enemy of the state.
Considering that Hagel is one of the very few Republicans that can claim ACTUAL combat service, it is amazing how the Cons can take him from hero to pariah is such short order.
…and they dare to claim that it is George W Bush that is the actual war hero….
I have no doubt that Chuck Hagel would be a great president … but we’re so damned smart, we’ll run some yahoo. We can only hope that Billary continues her antics and completes the Democratic trail toward self-destruction.
rm, wsc, jr – I’m sure the righties are getting ready to swiftboat Hagel. You see it beginning with the rant from mac-town.
Yep.
If I had the secret service protecting my butt, I would never have to worry about getting robbed.