A missed oppertunity

Damn, I’m quite annoyed, I was this close, THIS close… oh wait, you can’t see me, well I was an arms length  away from fighting crime. Stopping the baddies. Doing a good deed. Foiling an evil plot. Letting justice prevail. But I didn’t, instead I froze up and got confused like a cowardly idiot, I always thought that, when push came to shove, I wouldn’t be one of the many who would walk past when someone is being mugged in an alley, or if someone is in trouble, but apparently I am.

What happened was, I was walking to work, when I turned round the corner, and see some young chav kid standing outside a shop, about 13 or 14, hood pulled over his face, looking fidgety and anxious, he seemed to be waiting, he dashed into the store, I was still walking towards it, suspicious of this guy. Seconds later, I was directly in front of the door to the shop, he ran out carrying a crate of wine or something, he looked at me, and said two words. “Safe, man.” and ran off round the corner, in the direction I had just come from.

I could have easily grabbed his hood, pulled it off his head, shouted, chased after him, something, he seemed nervous about the whole thing, he was probably new to this life of crime, I doubt he would have fought back very well, I would have taken the stolen goods back to the store and handed him to the guy in charge and he could have called the police, but no, I just stood there.

Ok, so maybe I’m over reacting, this was only a small shoplifting incident, it’s not as though someone was being stabbed, I was also alone, I would have probably been more willing to confront this guy if I had a friend with me, but the criminal might go on to do much worse acts, and I will be at least partially to blame. Also if I had stopped him, I would have felt so awesome and proud of myself, and I could always say to someone that I am a crime fighter, and I would be a hero, at least in my own eyes, for doing what’s right. And also this blog post would be a hell of a lot more interesting.