Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Monday, July 10, 2006

I'm proud of myself

I told a woman off today. I'm not one for direct confrontation--I shook the entire time, but I'm very proud of myself for doing so, even though it may mean a complaint about me at the gas station. She drove up with a passenger that had a 6 month old baby in her lap--no carseat in the car, etc. This incensed both the assistant manager and me, and the woman came in complaining about another customer using a cuss word in front of the child and then gave us all sorts of grief over some coupons she wanted to use, wanting us to call the manager at home, etc. Finally I said:

'Do you have airbags in that car?'
Surprised, she answered, 'Yes, yes I do.' She sounded pleased.
'You do realise that if you hit anything, that baby is dead, don't you?'
(Acts surprised). 'Oh, did she take her out? She stays in the back in a carseat whenever I drive.'
'We watched you drive up with that baby in the front, and there isn't even a carseat to be seen.'


Needless to say, she got all huffy and left, backing up very slowly so we couldn't get the licence number. I think she knew we were going to alert the cops if we could. My assistant manager called the manager and explained the situation just in case there was a complaint. Later, the passenger came back sans child and got a money order, and we sent one of the other guys to get the licence number, and called it in to one of the policewomen who regularly stop by. They'll run the plate and find out the area where the women live and keep an eye out. It's not much, but maybe together we helped save that child's life. I think I shocked my assistant manager--they all think of me as really shy, which is partly true, and she was really proud of me. :)

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