The Break-In

The weekend sucked. Big time. My store was broken into. Nothing was taken, but nevertheless there was stress and a mess to clean up and lots of people to call.

Worse, as closing manager the night that the break-in occurred, I did one itsy bitsy tiny thing wrong. Something that we OFTEN do, but apparently are not supposed to do. While that thing did not at all lead to the break-in or make it better or worse in any way WHATSOEVER, if the police include certain details in their report then the higher beings in my company will ask questions. If they ask questions, I have two choices. I can tell the truth and most likely get fired, or I can lie and hope that the other managers and I coordinate our stories well enough.

The police never directly asked me about the itsy bitsy tiny thing, but they did ask my boss. In an attempt to make things look OK and/or protect me, my boss played dumb/was intentionally vague/basically-but-not-quite-lied-to-the-police. I stood by and said nothing.

It appears to be an inside job. Several of our stores have had break-ins with very similar details lately. I'm really paranoid, and I totally don't want to go to work. They know where everything is now. They know how long it takes the police to respond. And apparently, they were waiting for me to leave before they entered the building. Less than a half hour after I left and the alarm was going off. Coincidence? It scares the shit out of me to think that they might have been preparing to enter the store even as I was finishing out the closing paperwork in the darkened store, all alone. The fact that I was talking to someone on my cell phone as I locked the front door and got in my car might have stopped them from attacking me.

The day after the break-in we instituted some changes for improved safety of our employees and better visibility of certain areas of the store. The damage couldn't be completely hidden, even after all the managers' late-night repair-what-we-can-and-get-maintenance-in-first-thing-Monday-morning. Employees were told to attribute the damage to an "accident," if any customers asked. If the break-in was discussed within earshot of customers, employees would be disciplined. It's a safety issue. We don't want it to be widespread knowledge that we're an easy target so the whole area tries to rob us.

We were unable to contact our regional manager until about 12 hours after it happened. We had to go through another manager to get approval for the late-night, expensive repairs. The other regional manager was PISSED. Not that he got a late night phone call or that he had to help us; he didn't mind that. He was pissed that our regional manager wasn't doing her job by being available for this type of thing.

A new employee (lasted a whole 3 days) quit the day after the break-in. Poor timing. I don't think the employee would have done it, but right now I suspect everyone. It could be her. Or maybe the disgruntled employee's husband. That one customer has been coming in a lot recently. Why is that guy so interested in if we've had good business lately? That guy is straining his neck awfully hard to see inside my cashier's drawer. Why is that woman just standing there while I count the change in the safe?

My first night closing since the break-in………..my dad came up and stayed with me until I finished all my paperwork. Then he helped me make sure all the doors were secure, as we're doing a temporary fix on one of them. I must have checked the safe 10 times; each door was quadruple-checked. I am paranoid!

I haven't had much sleep and the sleep I have had is full of "Did I lock the safe? Is the alarm set? Is the side door bolted? How about the back door? Was someone hiding in the bathrooms waiting until we left? What if……………………." Will I ever feel at ease again?