Did Val Just Witness a Crime?

Save A Lot is a hotbed of criminal activity these days! In the same place I saw that parking altercation where the police were called, I observed another possible crime on Wednesday. 

I have a knack for being at the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time, I guess.

I was standing by my cart, shoving Chex Mix ingredients into T-Hoe's rear, when I noticed a man and woman taking carts out of the cart corral. I assumed it was two workers, taking them back into the store. THEN as I turned to wheel my own cart over to the corral, I saw that they were LOADING THE CARTS INTO THE BACK OF A RED TRUCK!

Well, crap. I couldn't be obvious about my suspicions. People who steal a truckload of grocery carts probably would think nothing of preparing a snitch for stitches! So I pushed my cart into the corral, and hobbled back to T-Hoe. If my wind-dried lips could have whistled, I would have been the poster Val for insouciance. 

That's when I heard the young worker who just came out the door. He was in the red polo uniform shirt, maybe 21 years old, just a gawky kid.

"Hey! Did you pay for those carts?"

Well, crap. Was I going to get caught in a rumble? I don't like confrontations. By now I was stepping into T-Hoe. Cart Taker replied, "Ha ha!" He mumbled something else, but I had closed my door for safety, and couldn't make out the words. They both had a couple things to say, some arm gestures. The woman Accomplice didn't say anything. Cart Taker loaded MY cart in the back of his truck. Then Young Worker went back into the store, and Cart Taker and Accomplice drove off.

 

I GOT PICTURES!

 

Yeah. I was kind of nervous. I pretended I was checking my phone and texting, being so nearsighted that I had to hold my phone in front of my face.

 

 

I blocked out Cart Taker's face. Accomplice had the good sense not to expose her identifiable features to me. I wonder about their parking choice. The could have loaded those carts easier if they parked in the space beside the cart corral. However, it's a handicap space. So I guess that cart thieves in Backroads are respectful of the disabled.

 

Those are new carts, too! Only about 6 months old. They even roll straight! And don't have broken handles that pinch my hands!

All I can think of is that maybe one of the other Save A Lots in the area needed more carts. There's one over in Sis-Town where Pony works and his house is located. But nobody was wearing any identifying uniform. Surely a hoity-toity management person wouldn't be doing physical labor, loading carts!

It's a mystery to me. This is Val, signing off, at the Backroads Save A Lot.