Down here at the pawn shop

[xoxoxoBruce]

It was on the news this morning, cop saw the guy robbing someone, told him to put the gun down, he pointed or shot at the cop, cop shot him, he staggered as far as the phone store and dropped.

However, tens of thousands in, and passing through, the Ghetto every day without incident. The bullet proof glass is not because it's the ghetto, that's pretty much standard for pawn shops, and Comcast offices, because that's where people get mad enough to shoot somebody.

Sure, it's smart to be aware of your surroundings, and exercise caution everywhere, but Paranoia will cause you to die a thousand times, unnecessarily.

[Undertoad]

Fuck yes the glass is there because ghetto.

In Olney, the Chinese restaurants all have more bulletproof glass than the pawn shop.

That mobile phone shop ... I've not been in it, but why was the guy robbing a person in the shop, and not robbing the shop itself?

In Pottstown, iirc the pawn shop has no glass.

[xoxoxoBruce]

He was robbing someone on the street, after being shot he staggered to the phone store sidewalk before he collapsed. They had a phone video from somebody on the sidewalk, of the cop running up to the guy and grabbing the gun, but he wasn't moving at that point.

[Gravdigr]

None of the pawn shops I've been in within fifty miles of me have glass, bullet-proof, or otherwise. Robbing a pawn shop around here is, literally, unheard of.

[xoxoxoBruce]

What about Louisville? Boston, NYC, Detroit, Chicago, LA, etc? They problem with pawn shops is not robberies as much as pissed off people who feel they're being fucked. Same for Comcast offices.

[Undertoad]

I thought we determined earlier that the ghetto is where people shoot people.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not just the ghetto, on the highway, outside of bars, in houses, schools, military bases, theaters, you name it

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Noooooooo, good lord no. It's horribly unsafe and random, this happens at 2pm on a Saturday, because the ghetto is full of violent, dangerous, unpredictable people.

Guy gets told to walk, and just goes across the street and robs a woman in a store. Could have been the shop, easily. This is why pawn shop workers are behind a layer of bullet-proof glass most of the time.

I heard it on kyw last night. The way they told it, the perp pointed the gun, and then fled. The cop gave chase, and stated that the perp raised his gun again as he was running away, the cop then fired and dropped him. No one saw the shooting. Cop is on desk duty pending investigation

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

It was on the news this morning, cop saw the guy robbing someone, told him to put the gun down, he pointed or shot at the cop, cop shot him, he staggered as far as the phone store and dropped.

However, tens of thousands in, and passing through, the Ghetto every day without incident. The bullet proof glass is not because it's the ghetto, that's pretty much standard for pawn shops, and Comcast offices, because that's where people get mad enough to shoot somebody.

Sure, it's smart to be aware of your surroundings, and exercise caution everywhere, but Paranoia will cause you to die a thousand times, unnecessarily.

[Undertoad]

Steve took a few punches to the face today. Bloody nose, black eye.

"Had a little trouble getting a high school aged kid out of the shop today and took a good handful of hits to the face," he reports.

The kids that come in late afternoon are 16 year old thugs looking to graduate to felons. They have no business at the shop. They don't buy anything. It's illegal to buy from them, or do pawns. Steve works right at the window and generally leaves it open and deals with people. That's how I used to do it, too. He told them to get out, the kid popped him a couple.

[xoxoxoBruce]

When I worked at the speed shop the counter was quite high, I'd guess about 40". Coming in the front door the coke machine and shit on the right, and counter with catalog racks to the left, so a straight shot to the back counter with the cash register. The front of the counter was the crappiest paneling imaginable, and under the back was a full shelf, 6" below the counter top. The only thing on that shelf was a 6" .357 Smith & Wesson.

[Griff]

So much suck, that's no way to come home from work unless you're Jon Jones.

[Undertoad]

Stories continue to drift in when something interesting happens, which is increasingly rare.

The other day, someone stole Steve's phone. He had it too close to the window, and someone reached in and nabbed it while he wasn't looking.

So he used the lost iPhone feature and had it pop up with a message, telling its potential new owner that if he was in the shop, they had him on camera, and a scan of his ID.

20 minutes ago the thief came back in with the phone and apologized, with a story that was obviously bogus.

Steve doesn't care about the story. Phone is back. S'all good in the hood.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I wonder how much plastic explosive would fit in an iPhone?

[Pamela]

Answer varies, depending on whether you want the phone to operate normally or not. If not, one could theoretically pack several ounces of C-5 inside, enough to destroy a sedan and everyone inside. If yes, however, there is very little excess space inside, maybe enough to kill the holder but not much more.

Do NOT ask me how I know this.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Enough to blow a hand off is enough.