I used to do what???

It was 2005...I had just moved to Florida and unfortunately my 5+ years of banking experience in New York was not helping me land a job at a bank in Orlando...reason? I wasn't bilingual. Haha, ok, so I had to think outside the box! What else was I qualified to do? What new job skill could I learn? Ok, I needed to find something, fast!

My (then) husband and I were shopping for a few basics for our new apartment at a Target near our new home. I saw a "Now Hiring" sign and one of those lovely application kiosks. So, I sat down and applied. They had several different positions available so I checked a few that sounded good to me. One of which said "Assets Protection Specialist". I really wasn't sure what that was...but in my 23 year old head, I was thinking some sort of office job logging numbers of product loss, or something along those lines. Yeah, I thought, I could do that. An office job would suit me just fine.

Within a few days, I was called in for an interview. He asked me the typical questions and told me that he felt I would be great for the position. He started to tell me a bit more about this Assets Protection Specialist position, and I wish I could have seen my face because I'm pretty sure my mouth probably dropped. He wanted me to do WHAT??? Me??? Really???

Once I knew what was going to expected of me, I thought no way can I do this! But, it was a full time job, making more than I had at any previous job...and being in a new city, with an expensive apartment, and my (then) husband starting culinary school full time...I felt I really had no choice but to take this job.

This position required me to take and pass a course, one named "None Violent Crisis Intervention", where I basically learned how to apprehend a person and subdue them without actually causing someone physical harm. And why on earth did I need such training??? Here is what the job consisted of...I would walk around the store, dressed in regular clothes (no red shirt and khakis for me! lol) and I would watch for suspicious people who might try to steal from the store. Or, notice someone already in the process. Either way, I was to maintain a visual of them, either from the floor or via security camera in my office...watch what they were stealing and where they were concealing it...and then apprehend them once they passed all points of sale, aka: the registers. Target stores will often also have a dressed security guard at the front of the store too, and it was their job to aid me when I radioed them about an apprehension about to go down. I had handcuffs if needed, but if the person cooperated I wasn't forced to use them in all cases. I would take them to my office, call the police, and start my report of the incident.



So, if you have followed my blog at all thus far, you probably think as most people do..."I cannot see YOU doing this job!" I know, right?!? But I did. For about a year. Oh the experiences I had! I had a lot of teenagers stealing CD's...a couple times young girls stealing clothes...once, and this one I'll admit was a little sad; a woman stealing diapers, toothpaste, and baby formula - things you know she probably needed- but hey, I had a job to do and stealing is wrong no matter what. Still though, I felt for her.

Probably one of the more interesting apprehensions was a middle aged man, who concealed some head phone and a couple other items from electronics. I think about a total of $60 worth of merchandise. Once I completed the apprehension and had him in my office, he began to tell me he had diplomatic immunity. He was from another country and here only temporarily I guess. Well, I told him I had no idea what his status was and it was going to be up to the police to sort all that out. It turned out that he did have diplomatic immunity. Key words there; DID HAVE. It had expired about two months prior. Here this guy thought he could get away with anything due to his immunity status, but he was wrong! Off to jail he went. I found it slightly amusing.

So, was I good at this job? Honestly...no. LOL, sorry being honest. It was an experience for sure, but this was not my line of work. I am in no way a bad-ass... I am girly. I must admit, it did have its excitement and gave me a "rush" if you will...but the job was actually really dangerous. Something I probably didn't really consider in the beginning. But we got reports from stores all over the area, some even nationally, and sometimes things got really ugly. Think about it...some druggie is stealing to support his habit...could be high even at the moment...someone tries to apprehend them and they have a knife, gun, or some other sort of weapon. Yes, it does happen. I remember reading a report that in a city just north of Orlando, a woman had stuffed some bathroom towels and other items in her clothes, and when she was stopped, she whipped out a knife and stabbed the person (the person at that store doing the same job as me) in the leg! Suddenly, the decent pay did not seem worth it at all! Plus, having back problems already at this point, this was way too physically demanding for me. So, my year of pretending to be a bad-ass was over.

That right there has been my most interesting job in my entire life. So, these pictures that I show, I apologize for the poor quality...they were shots I paused and printed out from our security cameras...probably not really supposed to share them so no one tell Target on me please! LOL


 
What has been YOUR weirdest, or most crazy job ever?
Please share! :)

Comments

  1. This seemed like such an interesting job. It's amazing how much stuff people think they can get away with. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. I think the most craziest job as waitress who never drank but to deliver drinks to the tables...yup, several folks got their laughs from this!

    Ursula aka Blueridge Beauty

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  3. I love that this is your job and that you didnt know what it was when you applied. Thanks for the chuckle today!

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  4. Oh my gosh, I definitely would not have been able to do that - how interesting! I haven't really had any crazy jobs, but I'm a librarian and we do see our fair share of weird stuff there. Yesterday I stepped on a raw garlic clove on the ground - no idea how that got there!

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    1. lol...you probably don't want to know ;) maybe someone trying to ward off vampires lol jk

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  5. I used to work for Target, so I know the exact job you are talking about. I've had many crazy jobs, but nothing dangerous like that .

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  6. I don't think I had any crazy jobs but yours certainly fits that description!

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  7. Well done Cindy, not many people could do this.

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  8. Haha! The craziest job I ever got was interning for a personal Chef out of his living room! Not even close to yours!

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  9. Wow. Well done. I've had some odd ones but nothing comes close to this.

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  10. Wow, what a crazy yet interesting job.

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  11. Wow, that is a weird job! All my jobs have been pretty tame by comparison, not sure I'd be able to do what you did :)

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  12. Wow! Crazy job for sure lol! I think my craziest job was probably working at Hollister, which really isn't crazy at all. I refuse to go in there to this day because I can't stand the loud music or the smell of the cologne we were required to spray every few hours lol.

    Best Wishes,
    Allison Jones
    www.LiveLifeWellBlog.com

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    1. I love the smell of Hollister, but yeah I can imagine smelling that all the time gets to be a bit much! I knew they must have a rule of constantly spraying their cologne in there! It is pretty strong!

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  13. I love this story! And I especially love the photos of you in action hahah! You will have stories for the rest of your life from this job.

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  14. What an unusual position! I couldn't see myself doing this but on the other hand, it's amazing what we actually CAN do if we need to.:)
    I've had some interesting jobs but by far the strangest was a one day stint working in a morgue while I was doing a work experience thing in Iceland. It was odd.
    Great post though and super entertaining writing style! :)

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    1. oh my! Now working in a morgue, even for one day, I could not do!

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  15. Oh my gosh! This was so fun to read...I always wondered how people actually GOT this job! I feel like I'm with you on the "I'm not a badass so it wasn't right for me.' lol!!!

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  16. Your are such a skinny gal and you will subdue those scary people in the store? So scary for me...

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  17. I worked in the office of a dollar store. I did payroll and paperwork, mostly. But the worst was when the owner of the chain would purposely call people to the office (forcing them to sometimes drive 2+ hours from their store) just so he could scream at them. And I'm not talking like a moderate yell, but screaming as loud as possible. In fact, the entire MALL could hear it and he'd do it until they'd cry. For fun. Needless to say, I lasted 3 weeks and told him he could even keep my check because there wasn't a chance in hell I was going to go back to get screamed at. NO THANKS.

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  18. My jaw is still on the floor reading about your job. That is a very demanding and potentially dangerous job so I give you props for lasting a year. What a story!

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  19. Wow, that's crazy. I haven't had too many fun jobs!

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  20. Hehehe I already knew this, but it really is an insane job!!!

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  21. haha! Not sure I have had anything really crazy... I once worked a trucking company, which feel really weird for my personality ;)

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  22. Okay, this is kind of hilarious. I could never do this job! Plus, I'd spend too much time looking at things I'd want to purchase because Target is my drug.
    xo, Caitlin
    And Possibly Dinosaurs

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