Uh, ma'am, I think you own me $200

[reformedwaitress]

So yeah. I was a bit pissed off yesterday when I got to work at The Bar. Went up to rant to Jester about it and everything. Know why I was pissed off?

Cause my phone, my less than six week old phone, was in about thirty pieces!

So it's almost 4:30, when I leave The Spa, so I've gone back to the locker rooms to fill lockers with bathrobes and change out of my uniform into my street clothes. We weren't really all that busy, so my coworker (I'll call her Nataliya) and I figured she'd be fine and didn't have our manager go up there.

So while I'm in the back, Nataliya is going over treatments with a lady that has walked in and is staying at another resort (not uncommon). The lady has two children, one about two and one probably four or five. Well, while they are going over things the older one manages to get behind the counter, unlock my LOCKED cash drawer, pull out my phone from inside, go back to the front of the counter and, just as I come back in, throw my phone as hard as he can against the wall!

My phone, not, of course, built to be used as a projectile missle, shatters and the Mother grabs her sons and runs out of there as quick as she can. We don't have a name, phone number, anything.

But seriously, I know kids will be kids and if my phone had just been on the counter or something that would be one thing. But it was in my LOCKED cash drawer! Grrrrr.

Now I have to replace my phone. I hate some children, really I do.

[tangrid]

One of those times you want to pick up the kid, and do the same with him... just to show him how it made the phone feel, of course. Ugh, if you can't teach your kids to be decent in public, DON'T FRIGGIN' HAVE KIDS. Usually like that because the parents ignore them to... I dunno, talk about spa treatments and such.... And obviously she's gonna be a great role model if her first response to having done something wrong is to run away.... [/rant]

[Moonlight]

I think I've heard it all now. We had a kid manage to pull down an entire display the other week. It was one of these stand alone clothes racks with locked wheels. The kid grabbed it and pulled it over. How I don't know how because it's fricking heavy and even with the wheels unlocked I have trouble moving it. Anyway, the mother, in typical SC style, has a go at US for not watching HER kid! WTF?! The fact that she was standing right beside him when he did it didn't seem to make any difference. *sigh*

[Shengirl]

Wow, I can't imagine how pissed you must be. That's COMPLETELY ridiculous!

[MadRocketScientist]

I would have chased them down and figured out where they were staying, then called the police

[Customer Beating Robot]

Yeah, I agree you were too passive. I am sure you were in shock or something but still go after them. No way she could get away that fast with two kids. If she is from one of the nearby resorts I would go and ask to look through their registrations. Most hotels get a copy of the driver's license and you could probably identify her from that. A call to the police was definitely in order. What makes you think for a second that you should just eat the cost of the phone?

[auntiem]

She ran?! Wow. Are there any security cameras? I'd file a police report, not that it would do much good, but it wouldn't hurt.

[Andara Bledin]

I would have been after her ass, too.

No way would someone get away with that, not with a $200 cell phone that's got all my freaking phone numbers stored on it.

^-.-^

[iradney]

I agree, call the nearby resorts with a description and find out if someone matches. I'm pretty sure that's theft (opening a locked drawer) and willful destruction of property. BTW, I AM NOT A LAWYER!

[Andara Bledin]

If the lock was jimmied open, that's technically 'breaking and entereing' I believe.

^-.-^

[Broomjockey]

If the lock was jimmied open, that's technically 'breaking and entereing' I believe.

^-.-^

Actually, breaking simply refers to the act of breaching the perimiter. It can be as simple as opening an unlocked door, or sliding a window open further.

[Andara Bledin]

Well, according to the cops that come by when car radios get stolen from the cars in our parking lot, you can only go after the thieves for breaking and entering if the door was locked. They hardly even care if the door wasn't locked.*

Technically, yes, breaking and entering is the any form of perimeter breach that involves any amount of force, which would include pushing (or pulling) open a door.

*Totally unrelated, but did you know that it takes an experienced thief about 7 seconds with a screwdriver to pop the lock off your door and get into your car?

^-.-^

[tangrid]

Actually, breaking simply refers to the act of breaching the perimiter. It can be as simple as opening an unlocked door, or sliding a window open further.

Breaking refers to the damage to the locking mechanism or portal itself (glass door, kicked-in door, window, etc) If the door was unlocked, but there was an obvious way to identify that the area was off limits, it's Unlawful Entry.

Either way, it refers to a space (house, car, business, etc.) that you can actually enter. If the kid had damaged the lock, it would be two counts of willful destruction of property (one from the business, one from you) for which the mother would, of course, be held accountable. She could also be charged depending on how the prosecutor wanted to present the case for fleeing the scene of a crime, impeding an investigation, etc. And if you were really vindictive, negligence, as she wasn't watching her child and he could have been seriously injured.

[Broomjockey]

Well, according to the cops that come by when car radios get stolen from the cars in our parking lot, you can only go after the thieves for breaking and entering if the door was locked. They hardly even care if the door wasn't locked.*

*Totally unrelated, but did you know that it takes an experienced thief about 7 seconds with a screwdriver to pop the lock off your door and get into your car?

^-.-^

7 seconds is scary, and the reason they don't care likely has to do with (can't remember the exact term) the responsibility the owner has to take reasonable measures to secure their property. I guess insurance won't even consider paying out if the door's unlocked and such.

[Andara Bledin]

7 seconds is scary, and the reason they don't care likely has to do with (can't remember the exact term) the responsibility the owner has to take reasonable measures to secure their property. I guess insurance won't even consider paying out if the door's unlocked and such.

Also, those motion sensors all cars have now? A good thief can go into your car, take whatever he feels like, and be gone without setting it off, even if it's sensitive enough to go off when a cat jumps up onto it. I know this because I had a friend whose car was broken into multiple times and the alarm never went off. But it would go off all the time when the only thing near it was one of the neighbors cats.

^-.-^