Me-The hero that was'nt !

There are a lot of times when I am in a particular situation and under the circumstances perform a certain action . Later , back home , I think about it and dream of having done it a different way . A better way . A more efficient way . But then , for obvious reasons ,the after thought does not change anything . Now most of the time these actions and the after thought affects nobody's life other than my own . Come to think of it , it never really affected my life either . But sometimes an action can change a lot of things for
a lot of people .

I was out with a friend buying stuff for a small project I am working on ( more on that in a separate post ) , when we decided to drop into a "snack shop" , called ladoos . Just as we began eating , a couple walked into the shop and made some enquires with the man at the counter. I just happened to have a glance at them and something told me that I have seen them before . Within seconds my brain had gone into a flashback to about 4 months ago .

AHA !! 4 months ago , at a supermarket , Fooddays , just across the street , this very couple was caught . Shoplifting . Their M.O ? While the man spoke with the person at the counter , the lady picked up packets and hid them under her sari . Since she is fat ( Is there a ruder way of saying that? cuz I really want to say it in a ruder way . Shameless fat lady ! ) , no one really would notice the packets that she had hidden . She would walk away and the man , after completing a long and friendly chat with the man at the counter , followed . On that day however , she was caught by an alert salesmen at fooddays.

I sat and watched . I saw her hand move towards a packet of chips . I was not sure if she had flicked it yet and was not even sure if they were still in the shoplifting business considering the were caught just across the street a few months earlier , so I did not raise an alarm . I continued watching for some " solid evidence". As her hand reached for the packet again , I shuffled in my seat . She saw the movement and noticed that I was watching and put the packet back. She then walked past her husband and turned her back away from me . Now I could no more see what she was upto but from there I was hoping the man at the counter would . Still , unsure of her motives, I waited . Some time later she walked out. I did not know if she had indeed picked something up so just watched where she was going. She crossed the road and disappeared into the darkness of the evening . The man did the same a little later . I too walked out hoping to see where they went , but could not see them around . I dragged my friend along to the nearby supermarkets ,including fooddays , wondering if they had the courage to go back again . Apparently they did not . I spoke with the cashier at fooddays and told him that the couple was around . He smiled , slyly , like he was just waiting for them to walk in so that he could get his hands on the people who dared rob from his shop !

I am still unsure if she had picked anything up . My gut tells me she did . I am pretty confident she did . But I did nothing . And that act , of nothingness from ,disappoints me . I did not have the courage to stop a crime in progress , even if it was just petty theft . I came back home and imagined all the different ways I could have alerted the shopkeeper that the lady was a thief . But , the afterthought makes no difference.

If only I had got them caught..I would have had a sense of satisfaction , the shopkeeper would not have been cheated and the thiefs , well they keep coming back so you can't do much about that . So it would have made a difference to someone .

The only reason I have made this post is because there is this feeling of guilt inside me ! If only ! But life is made of ifs and buts and I'll put this one down to experience . Next time I'll be sure to do something different !

This is a real story by the way . Not a ficticious blog post . So keep your eyes open for thiefs like this and do something about it , unlike me ( OK fine ! I feel shameless but atleast I am making up for it by creating awareness about the crime ! ) . Having said that , don't look at all fat couples with a detective's eye . That will just be rude . Just stay alert ! Prevent a crime ! Be a hero !

                                                             True Story !

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