Saw this myself yesterday.
I went with my mom to a generics pharmacy. No other customer. I wander around a bit and when I look back, all of a sudden there are two other people at the same counter. A middle aged man standing by my mother’s right elbow, appearing to be waiting to be attended to by the clerks on the other side of the counter; and a younger man, crowding my mother on the left, actively engaging the two clerks in conversation.
To be honest, this pissed me off. I don’t like people muscling in ahead of anyone in queue, and since I knew my mother got to that counter ahead of anyone (heck, there wasn’t anyone else when we got there), I felt that at least one of the two clerks should have been – by that time – wrapping up whatever transactions they had with my mom. As it was, however, both clerks were focusing entirely on the young man. My mother herself seemed enthralled by the whole conversation.
It was then that I noticed a third man, standing behind my mom, not appearing to do anything, but clearly rooted to the spot. Now, understand that this generics pharmacy was in the middle of a small mall, so seeing someone not doing anything but standing at the same spot for an extended period of time – well, that seemed weird to me. Then I noticed that this third guy kept looking around and throwing furtive glances at me and the guy on my mom’s right.
Still unsure of what I was seeing and not wanting to stand at the counter to make a suddenly crowded situation become even more crowded, I stood about a meter and a half behind my mom, and started watching her bag. The guy on the left of her – still talking up a storm with the clerks – was getting uncomfortably close to the bag which, from where I stood, I could see was unzipped.
I guess the third man noticed my sudden interest in the guy on my mom’s left because I saw him look at the guy on my mom’s right, sharply jerk his head and start walking away. The guy on my mom’s right followed suit immediately, pretty much confirming for me that these three jokers who had appeared from out of nowhere, didn’t have the best intentions.
I walked up to my mom and in a deliberately irritated tone, asked the clerk what was taking so long. The talker was startled out of his spiel and looked at me. The surprised look on his face was unmistakeable. He dropped the paper bag that contained his “purchase,” grabbed a crisp 500 peso bill from the clerk’s hand, mumbled something like “di bale na,” and walked off briskly.
The clerks look at each other in confusion and finally turn to my mother to finish her transaction. We walk away.
What was that?
To better understand what had just happened, I made this illustration.
When you look at this – noting the primary and peripheral lines of focus of the three men around my mom – you can easily discern that some play was being put in motion. The talker, while ostensibly engaging the clerks, had my mom square in his line of peripheral vision; the backstop – the guy who my mom would have backed into if she ever felt crowded by the talker – never paid any real attention to the drama with the clerks. Instead, he had had his eyes firmly on my mother. The look-out, on the other hand, despite looking, well, outwards, had the backstop in the corner of his eyes.
And in the middle of this three-cornered formation was the mark. My mom.
I could just be paranoid, but this is how it all played out. Now that I think about it, it should be an easily identifiable pattern. And it wouldn’t hurt for anyone to be aware of it.
Watch out for:
1. Anyone getting too close. By now, we metro Manilans are pretty well used to being crowded in. This is a blindspot for most of us. But remember, you don’t have to be crowded in, especially at places like store counters, inside shops, or malls. When people start getting close, step away.
2. Talkers, flamboyant people, dramatics. Anything that catches your attention diminishes your situational awareness. When people start acting up close to you – engaging clerks or other people in a way that makes you look – look away and look to your things.
3. A sudden increase in people around you. This is especially true when the newcomers are just milling around. The increase might well be coincidental, but it always pays to be more aware that you are essentially outnumbered.
Be safe.