CONTENT WARNING: Armed Robbery, Injury
When I was eighteen, I was working my first full-time job after high school in a little corner shop. The owner was a sweet old guy who believed the best in people. We were all under instruction that if the homeless guy that hung out nearby came in, no matter how little money he had, we were always to give him two sandwiches and a drink. If it was hot, we were meant to give him two big bottles of water, also. The homeless guy was a sweet man who barely spoke.
One night, as my coworker had called in sick, I was in the shop alone for about four hours before closing. The homeless guy popped in with his gentle little smile, and I was excited because I knew I had his favourite sandwiches in the case. I handed them over along with his drink, and he gave me a $10 bill — much more than the small change he usually had.
Me: “Oh, come into some cash today, [Guy]? Did you want a hot pie to go with your dinner? I’ve got a couple left!”
He grinned and nodded excitedly, pointing to the chicken pie in the warmer and happily hopping from foot to foot. I asked him if he wanted anything else.
Guy: “No. Keep it for [Owner] to make up for the days when I don’t have any money and he still feeds me. He’s a good man.”
Me: “He sure is, mate. All right, you’re all set. Enjoy your dinner!”
I went back to cleaning and filling fridges.
About an hour later, I heard the bell go off for the door. I came back up front to serve the customer, but as I rounded the corner to greet them, I found a gun being waved in my face. I was a tiny little eighteen-year-old girl and froze entirely.
Robber: “OPEN THE REGISTER RIGHT NOW AND GIVE ME EVERYTHING IN IT!”
Our owner had always told us to comply with anything robbers said; he had insurance for stuff like this, and no amount of money was worth us getting hurt. But again, I was young and terrified, and I remained frozen to the spot. The robber smashed the gun into the side of my head and I stumbled sideways into a shelf, knocking everything down. My vision went black, and my ears were ringing. I heard the gun go off twice and thought, “Oh, he’s shot me. I’m dying.”
That was the last thing I remember before coming to, being loaded into the ambulance.
Paramedic: “Hey, there she is! Do you know what happened, love? What day is it?”
I stammered my way through answering his questions before asking my own.
Me: “What happened? Did he shoot me? I can’t feel anything.”
Paramedic: “Nah, love, looks like he knocked you out cold. He was trying to shoot old mate that came in to save you, though. Scruffy older guy got the girl at the pub to call for help when he heard the shots and ran in there. He was kicking the s*** out of the guy when the coppers got here.”
The owner showed me the security video on his phone when he came to visit me in the hospital. Our homeless friend was sitting in the alcove around the corner when he heard the robber start screaming at me to open the register, and he ran in. I was already on the ground mostly unconscious by the time he got inside. Our friend jumped on the robber’s back and started absolutely wailing on him. The gun had gone off a couple of times while he wrestled it out of the robber’s hand. Apart from my bonk on the head, the only other injuries were a couple of holes on the floor, and the would-be-burglar was now short a dozen teeth.
Our homeless friend was in the paper and touted as a local hero. He got job offers, and within a few months, he was living in a little house of his own with a steady income.
This was almost ten years ago now. The corner store has long closed up shop, and the owner is enjoying his retirement, but I still see my hero at the grocery store shopping and living his life with his partner and their two little kids. I tried to thank him once and he got embarrassed and waved me off, but every time I look down at my own kids, I wonder if any of us would be here without him.
This story is part of the Best-Feel-Good-Stories Of-2023 roundup!
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