Strange Behavior Makes You Insecure

(I am a 16-year-old working at my first job ever as a grocery store cashier. I get put in the express lane quite often because I am one of the few employees who does not complain about it. The express lane can be either insanely busy and backed up, or there can be long stretches of time in which I don’t have a customer. During one of these slow periods, I am observing people around me when I see a young man walking by with a shopping basket. He’s quite handsome, and since I am a bit boy-crazy, I watch him until I get a new customer. About half an hour later, he walks by again. I see that he has swapped his shopping basket for a shopping cart, but only has one item in the chart. I think it’s odd that he has only one item in the chart after a half-hour of shopping, but he has been walking quite slowly during both encounters, and I vaguely wonder if he is simply new to the store and does not know where anything is. Another half-hour later, I see him walking by ONCE AGAIN, but now he has swapped out his previous item, a large package of paper towels, for a different item. Finding it extremely suspicious that he has been walking around the store for an hour with only one item in his cart, I finally call the manager over.)

Manager: “Yes, [My Name]?”

Me: “There’s a man who has been walking around the store for close to an hour. I keep seeing him walk by, and he only has one item in his cart and never picks up a second item. It just seems really strange to me, like he might be scoping out the store.”

Manager: “Hmm… that is odd. Can you describe him for me?”

Me: “He’s in his twenties with blonde-brown hair, a red shirt, and khaki pants.”

Manager: “I’ll call security over and see if they can find him.”

(A few minutes later, I see the man walk by again, but this time he is going to the customer service counter without a basket or a cart. Confused, I start to wonder whether the store employs plain-clothes security guards. A few minutes later, the manager comes back over.)

Me: *embarrassed* “He was a security guard, wasn’t he?”

Manager: *laughing* “Yes, but good job! You noticed something strange and reported it, so I am going to give you a free lunch coupon from our hot foods sections.”

(I didn’t dare to look that handsome security guard in the eye for the rest of my shift!)