Robbery

Holy cow!
I just got back from safeway on 175th and 15th. still shaking! i'm done grocery shopping i come out to the car and a flood of people come running out after me! i am shocked! safeway is being robbed! i was just in there! i haven't even gotten in my car yet, just returned the cart, checking my receipt, yelling screaming all coming from the people who are running for their lives out of the store.
it's being robbed! right now, as i get in my car, the people who were in line right behind me didn't come out... what was happening? i was instantly shaking and dialing 911. there was an old couple who were hiding behind the cart i had just returned. people were getting in their cars and speeding away. i looked behind me to see a group of boys and girls all running into the 15th side of safeway. 16-20 years old. i still can't believe it! 5 guys stand outside arms folded guarding the door, people run in with guns held above their heads, tall black girl dances outside the store like this was no big deal! smiling and waving her arms! What! What in the world! i take off out the 175th side exit, turn right, wait on hold, back up back into the parking lot, head towards the light at 15th and 175th, what will i say to the 911 guy, what did i just see? i can't process what to say. i tell the operator that something was happening in the store and i wasn't sure just what. i told him people came running out terrified and if he could send someone out to see. he told me to wait, then confirmed what i thought i had seen, safeway was being robbed.... and i was just in there, talking to the young guy who was ringing me up, last thing i said was have a good night, and he said you too! what would have happened had i stayed to look at my receipt like i was going to, when i decided to get in the car because it was cold. i even checked beside my car, as i was taught as a child growing up in l.a.
the choices we make- strange how things turn out. i was going to park by the 15th st entrance when i thought it was getting late they might be closing that side soon, and i don't want to have to walk across the dark parking lot, by myself so i parked at the other entrance. i will never forget the terror on the old couples face as they huddled together behind the carts and a small bush.
was it really worth it? how much could they possibly get? $300 or so? was it worth scaring all of these people? why? Why? why would you even think this is a good idea! the operator told me to get away from the store so i drove slowly by where the robbers were to see if i could tell them anything else, but i couldn't, nothing more.
was the car next to me that a man came running out to and sped away part of this crime? was the next car the pulled away at the same time part of it? was i in the store with the robbers, casually doing my shopping, were they watching the place?
was the cashier that i was talking to o.k? how about the old couple? the look on their faces will not leave my mind. as they hold their little table top christmas tree, innocently spending some time together. just as john and i might have, we could have asked mom and dad to watch the kids and gone together and been trapped inside with the gang members fit of rage. i don't know what kind of place we live in where you can't run to the store in a small suburb and be safe.... just makes me sad. i guess i wouldn't have been so surprised if i had been there in the middle of the night, but it was 7:45pm on a mon. night.
it's all so sad to me.
and to think that lately i have been kind of short with my family because i have taken on too much- i could have left my family with that feeling this night, and never gotten to tell them that i was sorry for being impatient for my own short comings. i have learned a lesson tonight. more than one lesson.
john is always so strong. i came flying in the door after finally getting my shaking key into the door, and was shaking and just scared to death, and he was strong and comforting as usual when life throws me against a wall. thank you john, for that. and i thank my heavenly father for watching over me again, and again.
i am sorry for my rambling, it might not make sense, but it's out. and maybe i will feel better, knowing that you too can pray for the people in that store, the old couple buying a christmas tree, the mother & daughter buying baking items for cookies they were laughing about making together, the young guy who rang me up, the other young checker who waved goodnight when i wished them a good night. the store manager who helped me look for almond bark, tonight i pray for them. for their safety and their peace of mind.