A few days ago I was a witness to something that left me in shock.

I felt like if I had said something about what I noticed – this incident, as it were, turned out to be a crime – it may never have happened.

I was pulling up to Family Dollar and parked right in the front by the handicap space. I noticed an older-model Sentra backed up to the door where there is no parking. Next, the thing that struck me as odd was the trunk was open and just steps from the front doors. There were two people in the car simply waiting for the shopper, or so I thought at that moment.

The scene then continued casually throughout the store as I was browsing for my list. On several occasions, I witnessed a masked shopper just scooping things into the buggy, which struck me as a little odd. The items were of higher value. The cart was filled to the brim, and there was no method to her madness in shopping.

I went to the checkout and there she was again, removing things from one buggy to another empty buggy as the associate rang everything up. This went on for some time.

As I was thinking “finally, the end of the process,” I was wrong. The lady asked for seven packs of Newport cigarettes. The associate asked for her ID and she didn’t have it on her. She said, “it is in the car, let me go grab it.”

She pushed the full, but yet unpaid for buggy close to the door and went out to the car and quickly returned with her ID. Then, as the associate told her the total, she asked for an item that was locked up in the counter behind the clerk. As the clerk turned her back to get the item the masked lady took off with the unpaid for items in the buggy.

Now, the line for the register was very long and I was fourth in line and we were social distancing as well. By the time I put two and two together, the associate was freaking out because the order total was $171 and the masked shopper was gone like the wind.

A few guys went to the door to see if they could get the plates of the vehicle but it was too late.

I was in shock at what had just taken place. We bust our tails to earn a living and people pull this crap! My lesson out of this is if I see something, I should say something! That is my job as a responsible citizen in this tight-knit community.

_ Laura Mathis