A few people have been expecting me to mention something from a couple of Thursdays ago. Now I have been not mentioning this subject on purpose. But, by popular demand here I go. On early Friday morning the 15th of this month I was robbed. Two guys came in to the hotel and held me up at gun point. It was an interesting experience. I never expected this kind of thing to happen at the hotel. I worked for over a year at an convenience store and always expected this kind of thing to happen there. But it never did. This is what the local newspaper had to say about it:
South Beloit hotel robbed early today
A South Beloit hotel was robbed by two armed individuals early this morning.
Two men, one armed with a gun, walked into the Holiday Inn of Greater Beloit, 200 Dearborn Ave., in South Beloit, at 12:53 a.m. today and demanded money from the front desk attendant.
The men fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
South Beloit Police Department Acting Chief Richard King said the investigation of the robbery will be turned over to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department for further investigation.
King also said a witness was able to provide physical descriptions of the two suspects.
No one was harmed in the incident.
The sheriff’s department was called to the scene last night to help with the crime scene investigation.
So I came to adopt a way of thinking about a event like this. I always said if something happened I would not think about it. My reasoning was that if you spent time worrying about something like that, when it happened you would either panic or do something heroic. And hey I’m no hero. The hotel doesn’t pay me enough to be a hero.
So back to my banditos. These two goons walk into the hotel. One white, one black. The white guy had the gun. It was a nice shiny pistol. Long barrel, yet kind of tiny. This guy asked for the money in a tone of voice of someone who might be a little afraid of what he was doing. The black guy was definitely nervous. Me, I was more nervous myself than scared. What can you do in a situation like this? You just do what the asshole wants. So I gave the scumbag the money. I even asked if he wanted the checks and coins. The only ting I didn’t do for the guy was give him a bag that he asked for. I didn’t have one. Then the crooks left wishing me a merry Christmas. On foot. The local police didn’t get them. Crooks on foot, cops in police cars, go figure?
A bartender from the hotel had the privilege to be with me for this little episode. The local cops had me and the bartender fill out statements. Nothing professional or anything it was just us writing down what happened on the hotels legal pads. In my statement I refer to the crooks as banditos and say that they were nice enough for not stealing my personal money. The county cops are handling the investigation, and they felt my statement was a little odd. They still have yet to contact me. They called the hotel and talked to the general Manager. He tried to explain to the cops that just was the way I am. I figured they would make me a suspect. Just because I have a smart ass attitude. Oh well. Live and learn.
So the lesson we should all learn from this is that when you fill out a police statement don’t be a smartass.