Why do people steal?

This evening my mom and I went to the Wal-Mart by my house to get some milk and bread. I drove and parked next to a car who had people sitting in it, no driver. This doesn't usually seem out of the ordinary.

When we were finished shopping and came back to my car, I specifically said to my mom, "You keep a lookout while I put the groceries in the car." My gut told me to say that because this Wal-Mart parking lot is becoming notorious for robberies.

So, after I had finished putting everything in the car, I watched as my mom went to put the cart away. While she was doing that, I noticed a guy running frantically through the parking lot, looking over his shoulder as he went. I saw that everyone who was in the parking lot was looking around to see what was going on. That's when I saw another man following the running guy with a pair of shoes.

As soon as my mom got close to the car, I yelled at her over and over, "Get in the car! Get in the car!" I didn't want the guy running through the parking lot to suddenly take a turn toward us and rob us too. Right when we got in the car and locked the doors, the guy started running toward our car, and got in the car that was parked next to us with the people sitting in it. At this point my mother and I are starting to panic, but I still had enough composure to copy down his license plate number. Besides writing it down to give it to security to report them, as he was speeding off, I was really afraid he was going to hit my car.

So then we started driving through the parking lot, and we saw the security car heading toward the entrance of the store. When I pulled up next to him, the guy who was following the "criminal" was there and come to find out he was a Wal-Mart employee. The shoes turned out to be the "criminal's." He was running so fast that he ran right out of his shoes!

I hope they catch them. When we were driving home, my mom and I drove all through the neighborhood to make sure no one was following us (I know, that sounds weird, but my mom was paranoid that maybe they saw us talking to the security guard). So, that was kind of a scary experience. I just kept thinking over and over again, What if I hadn't told my mom to keep a lookout? What if we hadn't gotten in the car right when we did?



Ok, on to something a little less... intense. I had my interview at Beckendorff Junior High this morning, and it went AMAZINGLY (is that a word?). The three 7th grade math teachers and one of the assistant principals were on my interview panel. We actually talked about relevant things... like math stuff! They were really relaxed and welcoming.

When I got to the school, I found out that I wasn't the only one interviewing for the position. There was a girl sitting in the waiting room with me and she told me that there were two more people who had already been interviewed before and she was next. When she went in for her interview, two other people came in to interview for the same position as well. At this point I'm thinking, "Wow, my chances are getting slimmer by the minute!"

When I left the interview, I had a message on my voicemail from Arnold Middle (in Cy-Fair... the middle school I went to) wanting me to come for an interview on Monday. I guess the hiring freeze is over. So I called them back and scheduled my interview.

Later on I was running errands with my mom, and the assistant principal called me. Now, the way I heard it, she told me that she didn't have a job to offer me, but that she passed my resume on to human resources, and I should be getting calls for more interviews. At least, that's what I thought she was telling me.

A few hours after that, I got a call from KISD human resources and... they offered me the job! I'm still a little stunned after all the competition and the aforementioned phone call from the assistant principal. They want an answer by tomorrow... and I have my interview with Arnold on Monday. You do the math. I really like what I've heard about Beckendorff and my interview was a good sign, too. The only thing that's a downside is the distance. However, 35-40 minutes really isn't that bad when you think about it.

I'm just praying that I'll know for sure that this is the job for me after my interview with Arnold. If the interview doesn't go as well as the one for Beckendorff, I'll definitely accept the offer with BJH. The TAKS scores for Arnold are very mediocre, whereas for BJH they are exceptional, so that's a major plus.

I really do appreciate all your prayers during this frustrating/confusing/anxious time. I find comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in this. I know what's meant to be will find a way, and I hope I'm not blinded when I choose a path.

(If you've made it through this entire post, I applaude you. I wrote all this because I needed to get it out somehow, and there's really no one else to talk to here besides my mom... and she's heard about all of this already. So, thank you.)

-Ashley