Hazards of the Job

For those of you that read semi-regularly, you probably know that I work for a credit union.  When I started this job two years ago, being robbed never crossed my mind.  I don't know if I just didn't associate it to the job at all or if it's one of those things you think will never happen to you.

It hasn't happened to me, but the company I work for has been robbed twice in one week at the same branch.  We have 14 different locations and there are some locations that have been more prone to robberies than others.  One location was robbed the first of August and now another branch, has been robbed twice in the last week.  Now I know robberies can happen anywhere, but I just wouldn't have expected it at this one. 

The person he robbed was my friend and thankfully she is okay.  She worked at the branch I work at for 6 months before transferring to the branch that was just robbed when she moved closer to that area.  She also just happens to be 20 weeks pregnant. 

The real kicker in this first robbery is that he came into the branch, wearing no mask or any kind of disguise so they got his face quite well on our surveillance cameras, because what bank wouldn't have cameras right?  He showed a butt of a gun to my friend, showed her a note demanding money and fled on foot with the cash.

The next night my friend was shopping at Walmart with her husband and just so happened to run into the man that had robbed her the day before!  Her husband followed him out of the store and wrote down his license plate number and reported it to the police.  This man has been caught and will be going to trial for armed robbery.

A week later, same day of the week, the same branch was robbed again by another man not wearing any kind of disguise.  I hope he is caught very soon for his stupidity and for the fear he put into yet another girl.  My friend was not at work that day, so thank goodness she didn't go through another robbery!

It's such a shame that you have to be afraid to go to work.  As the economy gets worse, more people will be getting desperate for money.  You just never know when someone will get the crazy idea to walk into a bank and point a gun at you, wanting money that isn't theirs. 

I've always felt like I wouldn't handle the situation very calmly.  Of course I would hand over whatever they wanted, but sadly I don't think I would be that ideal person.  I doubt that I would be cool and collected, but hopefully I will never have to find out. 

Do any of you work at a job that had unexpected hazards?  Anything you didn't think of before starting there?  Now clearly I don't put myself in the line of danger like policeman, fireman, or our military, but I never really thought about the possibility of being robbed at work either.

Not to be too morbid here, but have you thought about what you would want done if say you died tomorrow?  I'm in my twenties, no reason to think I won't live a long life, but what if I didn't?  What if my parents had to plan a funeral tomorrow?  Where would I even be buried?  Or would I want to be cremated? 

What's the general consensus on cremation?  Against your religion?  Or against your morals?  My parents lean in the direction of cremation as opposed to having the added expense of funeral plots, caskets, headstones, etc.  At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this, but you know I don't need a funeral plot and a headstone to go to to remember my parents, or any loved one for that matter. 

Is it crazy that I think I might want cremated too?  Let my remains float away on the wind or at sea, somewhere beautiful.  One thing I would miss about not being buried in a cemetery is the history you can see in cemeteries.  Maybe I'm crazy, but I like to read the old headstones, to see families laid out next to each other.  To be able to see the years of a person's life and wonder what their life might have been like. 

Sorry for the crazy, serious talk today everyone!  Hope you're having a great weekend!