A Seattle bank teller who knocked a would-be robber to the ground on Tuesday was fired from his job on Thursday. [More]That's because Key Bank would rather...but here, let me have others tell you, from a Google search for terms Key Bank robbed--and these are just from the first page of results:
Salt Lake City: "There was no weapon displayed or seen."
Burien: "No weapons were displayed and there were no injuries."
Seattle: "He did not display a weapon or imply that he had one."
Medford: "Bank employees reported that a lone male suspect entered the bank and presented a threatening demand note. No weapon was seen or displayed."
And Eugene: "A man entered the bank, approached the teller, and passed a note demanding cash. "
Ahh, but that's not always the case!
Williamsville: "Amherst police are looking for a bank robber who displayed a handgun...The robber, who did not display a weapon..."
Huh?
The "Authorized Journalists" seem more certain about Fort Collins: "The suspect entered the bank through the front door, approached a bank teller, brandished a black handgun..."
Now for our story about the guy getting fired, I suppose we could listen to the words of Seattle "Only One" Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, who says ""We always recommend citizens, including employees of institutions, be good witnesses."
Shall we meet a few "good witnesses"?
Here's one: "A pregnant teller shot in a bank robbery has lost the twins she was carrying..."
Here's another: "A teller was shot when three gunmen robbed a bank in southwest Miami-Dade County on Tuesday."
And another: "Doctors amputated the arm of a female bank teller shot by a robbery suspect last week in a bizarre holdup..."
No one is suggesting anyone incapable of resistance try it, although it is part of a physically and mentally capable adult's responsibilities to know how and have the means to protect themselves. If they don't take those responsibilities seriously, they may just end up helpless and at the mercy of a reptile.
But "just give him what he wants" is a risk too.
Point being, you don't KNOW what he wants. Anyone deranged and evil enough to threaten your life, which is what the creep did, using money as an excuse, is capable of doing anything.
It's not a matter of protecting the bank's money, it's a matter of either trusting that someone this untrustworthy and violent won't hurt you and obeying--or acting. At that point, you owe no loyalty to the idiot suits interested only in their bottom line. Screw what they want.
It's Key Bank's right as an at-will employer to fire the teller. It's my right as an investor to not patronize them because of it, and to not place myself at risk at an establishment which, based on results, might as well advertise to predators what an easy and compliant target they are.
[Via Mack H]
8 comments:
That was the mind-set Jeff Cooper was after. And how telling is this?
"Surprised, the would-be bank robber backed up and then bolted for the door..."
"...what Nicholson did...was all but unheard of..."
Don't buy the garbage about "Jim Nicholson knew he should have just handed over the cash", nor even (with apologies to Nicholson) his own after-action comment about thinking that if he "let him go he would rob more banks and cause more problems". Frankly, I suspect that's BS. More likely, he simply got enraged at the thought of being threatened by a punk, employed an instinctual, explosive counterattack...and won decisively, even without a weapon. There is nothing to apologize for there.
Jeff Cooper labored for years to educate people that criminals expect compliance (there's that word again), and by the time they realize they're not going to get it, you may have already won the fight.
To paraphrase one of his essays from a long time ago:
"The Bianca party did not resist. The Tate party did not resist. The next time some 'authority' tells me not to resist I may become abusive."
I've said it before, and I'll probably have to say it again: dang, I miss that man.
David,
great graphic of what should be the Key Bank logo. Do you get credit for that?
When you listen to "The Only Ones" I can't help but think of 'learned helplessness' and 'Stockholm Syndrome' -- the irony is that what became known as 'Stockholm Syndrome' began as a bank robbery gone bad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome
I have to wonder how long he would have kept his job if just handed over money to everybody who walked up to his window and demanded it.
Perhaps all the other tellers should just start passing it out and then be "good witnesses".
This is why America is so screwed up. Then again these rules are being written by people who don't know how to read the 2nd amendment.
He deserves a raise and a promotion. Heck, fire the HR idiot who wrote that damn policy.
America loves you man.
Just give them what they want is the liberal submissive drival. Well, Mr or Mrs liberal, what if they want your life or your wifes or friends life? in the eyes of the liberal, a dead witness is preferable to a live resistor.
Right On! to the Seattle (former) bank teller.
In a post 9/11 world, we who are able should be willing to fight back against a threat. To do otherwise is a disgrace to the memory of United flight 91 and all of America. David reminds us that criminals [and terrorists] are liars and won't hesitate to hurt us even if we follow their orders.
Thanks for the heads-up, David. I went all "diarrhea of the mouth" again...
Key Bank: kiss the hand that robs you
The Ft Collins quote is from the Ft Collins government page about a Key Bank robbed back in 2006.
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