Surprise, bus depot revisited

While my friend and I were stealing from the paper office we were also checking the bus depot once a month or so. Just watching for an opportunity.

It was starting to get cold out and we were all wearing coats most of the time. The boss had taken his keys and gone out to start his car and let it warm up. Oops, I immediately recognized the opportunity and told my friend to get ready as it was probably gonna happen.

It used to be that people had all their keys along with their car keys and because people who come from a cold climate hate cold cars, they usually don't want to shut them off to run back inside and lock a door that should be safe anyway.

So we played pinball while we waited for the boss to leave. Nothing new and no one was paying any attention to us. Not even the boss. It's kinda like kids our age, as long as we were quiet, were invisible. Horseplay and noise attracted attention, well behaved, didn't. I've never been much for horseplay or noise.

Lol, my stepfather used to bitch all the time because adults would just rave about me. How smart I was, how helpful I was, how hard I worked, what a good job I did and how nice I was. For some reason he could never believe they were talking about me. I'd say that's about normal for a kid. Heh, my mother never believed what other adults said about me, either.

Actually most adults thought I was a nice kid and better behaved than their own kids. If they only knew. With me what you thought you saw wasn't always what you got. They only got to see what I wanted them to see most of the time. That's still how it is. Good old Sun Tzu.

My niceness, my hard work and all the rest of it was the perfect cover. I was still getting straight a pluses at school and teachers loved me too. Everyone except my parents and my sister. Lol, people still think I'm nice, unless we get crosswise with each other than they always say the same thing. 'I thought you were nice but you're not very nice at all.' Perhaps they should have lied, cheated or stole from me.

Anyway, the bosses car finally got warm and he got ready to leave. The big question was would he lock the office door or not. When he finally got ready to go he came out of the office, pulled the door shut and went outside to his car.

When he started to back out my friend hurried and ducked into his office and pulled the door shut. I was supposed to whistle if anyone was coming but I knew it didn't much matter as there was no place to hide in the office.

Much to my surprise about 1 minute later the back door opened and the boss walked in. Lol, took me three tries to whistle but I managed to get it out. He headed straight for the office and I knew we were screwed and probably going to jail.

As I waited for the angry yelling to start in the office I was judging my chances about leaving, whether my friend would rat me out and if I'd go to jail. Adrenaline was working over time. While all this is going through my head I'm also playing he pinball machine like nothing is happening except pinball.

I was scared as hell but nothing was happening in the office, no noise, no yelling, nothing. However the boss had been in there for more than 2 minutes now and I was really getting worried. Finally he came out with his jacket on and walked upfront.

I gave the all clear whistle and in an instant here came my friend. I couldn't figure out how he hadn't been seen and couldn't wait for us to leave so he could tell me about it. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

We left and I asked him what the hell had happened. Turns out he'd heard my first whistle and quickly hid himself in the only place available and then had to stay there while the boss worked at his desk for those few minutes.

My friend hadn't gotten caught but he hadn't gotten any money either. The filing cabinet was empty. Bummer. Oh yeah, he pulled the chair out from the desk and hid under the desk in the cubbyhole there and pulled the chair back in. He said he thought he was breathing so loud the guy would hear him or accidentally kick him but it didn't happen.

So we got in got nothing and got out plus got the biggest scare we'd ever had. Lol, I promise, this is the last trip to the bus depot.

More lying, cheating and stealing in MN

One day at the bus depot. I was playing he pinball machine and had a friend along. We were just hanging out. I trusted him a little as we'd done a few things together.

The boss was hanging around and going in and out of the office. Leaving the door open because he was going back and forth a lot. So I watched his movements while we played pinball.

A couple of days later I talked my friend into going back again. Same thing happened, the door was open but the boss was coming and going. No real way to get into the office without help. Someone had to keep watch, that's all there was to it.

I knew who the someone who kept watch was going to be. Lol, it wasn't going to be my friend. Of course he didn't know any of this yet as he didn't know about the money. When I told him he was going to be the one to go in.

Lol, better he get busted in the office than me. He was also going to get blamed for all of he earlier money that was missing. However that would only happen if he got caught. Besides, I was confident of my ability to lie my way out of most of it. He couldn't.

The next time we went to the depot to play pinball I told him about the money and the office being locked. I told him exactly where the money was and how to get it. I also told him I was going to keep watch.

He couldn't work up the nerve to go in the first day. The boss just wasn't staying gone long enough. We had decided on one pack of 10's and he knew exactly where they were but it just didn't happen.

He was pretty excited about getting his hands on the money so we went back almost everyday. Finally one day we got the opportunity we were waiting for. The boss had gone up front and I heard one of the waitresses telling him there was a problem with the cash register.

I hurriedly waved my friend in and told him I'd bounce the machine if anyone was coming. He got in and was back in about 30 seconds. I didn't think there was any problem. He was so full of adrenaline he was practically bouncing off the walls.

He wanted to tell me all about it while we were there and I told him to shut up and play the game. The boss came back, went into his office and then came out again about 10 minutes later. While he was coming out of the office we left.

Better to let him see us leave 15 minutes after we'd been in than disappear while he was upfront again. So when we got away and alone my friend told me the damn file cabinet the money was in had been locked. Damn

Stealing money, bowling and pinball

As I said earlier breaking 20 dollar bills was a problem. So I quit taking them. No brainer there huh. For a kid I had more money than I needed or could spend without arousing a lot of suspicion.

About the only things I spent money on were things I couldn't steal. Bowling, pinball, pizza and some of the bigger fishing lures that were kept behind the counter. I didn't live extravagantly but every now and then I would treat a couple of girls I liked to pizza.

I never came close to getting caught stealing from the bus depot. Not even once. Alas, all good things must come to an end and the easy money at the bus depot eventually ended.

Evidently I stole to much to fast because the owner finally started locking the office door. Didn't really matter as I had plenty buried so it wasn't like I needed the money. Besides, I was stealing from my drunken parents too and that was enough for the basics. I did miss the adrenaline rush tho.

I still hadn't heard much of anything about the missing money. No talk at all. Of course I wasn't in there all the time so it could have gone on while I wasn't there.

I kept going there to play pinball because they had some machines that were pretty easy to beat. A few months after the owner started locking the office door he started getting careless and he'd leave it open now and then.

I kind of figured it was a trap and stayed away from the temptation of going in when he left. I also suspected he didn't trust me much by then, or any of my so called friends either. I'd also noticed that we were being checked on by the waitresses more than was normal.

I waited until everything died down and the frequent checking stopped. The next time the door was left open I went in and hit it for a roll of nickles dimes, quarters, halves, and packs of 1's 5's and 10's.

Never heard a thing about that either and the owner was still careless with the door. Naturally I kept doing my thing.

Scamming and stealing in my early years

This is continued from the last post. Yes I was playing pinball when the owner of the place came to his office to get change. I saw him come out but it was to busy for me to check it out any more than that.

I was in there about 4 more times before the opportunity finally presented itself for me to get back into his office without worrying about getting caught.

I was play the machines one night and I heard him tell the waitresses up front he was going home for the rest of the night. He then pulled his office door shut and left.

I checked on what the waitresses were doing and when they got busy I went and tried the door. Much to my surprise it wasn't locked. I went in and shut the door behind me and started looking around.

There was the usual junk, file cabinets and a huge desk. Plus there was this little still file holder about 3 feet high. Large folders went into the top and then it had about 15 drawers down the front of it. It was just wide enough to hold files.

Lol, most of you have no clue what I'm talking about, to young to know, but back then there were no computers, no faxes, no nothing. Everything was kept in Manila file folders in a filing cabinet.

I searched thru the desk and everything else I could find and didn't find any money anywhere. Then I started getting scared and wondering how I was going to get out without being seen.

I pulled the door open a crack and looked out and there was no one around so I slipped out and shut the door behind me. I figured I was just out of luck and he didn't really keep any money in the office. That perhaps it just happened that he had the rolls of half dollars in there instead of in the safe.

It was still one of my regular pinball stops tho. I was playing again about a week later when one of the waitresses hollered that they needed some ones. The owner once again went into his office and came out with money for the till.

Now I was certain the money was in there, I just had to look harder for it. So I thought about it for a while, a week or so, went thru the layout of the place in my head and knew I'd looked everywhere. Everywhere except in the filing cabinet.

The top had been open so I knew it was full of files. What I didn't know was what was in the drawers. I'd ignored it the first time because I knew what it was.

I wasn't going to ignore it the next time. However it took another week before a good opportunity came along.

Big time thief but no depression, just adrenaline

I mentioned earlier that I loved to play pinball machines. Yeh, back in the day I was a gamer. Still am but I got old and reflexes got slow. I had one of the first Nintendo games to come out. I played almost 24 hours a day when I first got it. Even took a day off work to play. Got a severe case of Nintendo thumb.

I bought a X-box a couple of years ago because I got tired of my two younger cousins kicking my ass at golf. I did get good enough to win my share but golf is the only game I did get good at. I love NASCAR racing but I'm to shaky to play well. Lol, can qualify 1st and after a few laps I'm in dead last. Only place I win consistently is Daytona and Dega.

Pinball machines was all there was back then. That and the bowling machines with the thing like a hockey puck to slide down. I was a pro at that too.

I used to play at the bus depot frequently. The pinball machines were back out of sight so I could cheat until I learned to beat the new games. I'd get it up to 20 free games or so and then quit cheating so I could learn to beat it fairly.

Pinball machines suck now compared to the old days. 1 game, 5 balls for a nickle. 6 games for a quarter. Another thing I loved was shooting games. I was a pro at them too. Didn't matter, pistol or rifle, I kicked ass.

Bet you can't guess where I learned to get good at all of those things can you. Naturally, in the bars. I won so much stuff playing the bowling game that when the bar would get new stuff I'd play until I got the stuff I wanted. Yes, you could get free games on them too.

Best thing I ever won on the bowling was a complete picnic set with everything you needed and a big wicker basket it all fit in. Lol, yes the had had good prizes back then and even Cracker Jacks had decent stuff in them instead of the crap you get now.

Point is I was very good at all bar games so no one thought much of it when I'd play for hours at a time.

I was playing at the bus depot one day when the owner walked back into his office, Opened a drawer and shut it and came out with 3 rolls of 50 cent pieces. Lol, yes, they had half dollars back then.

The place was pretty busy so I filed that piece of information away for another day, or night. Yep, I made a killing there.