Wishful thinking

On my way home yesterday, I stopped at a local CVS to pick up a drink for the ride.  Ever since my old road bike was stolen, I prefer to never leave my bike unattended.  Almost every store, particularly the big chain stores have no issue with me bringing my bike inside the store.

As I was preparing to enter the CVS, I saw this young girl, probably around 15, run up to the exit door at full speed and sort of bounce off.  The door then slid open and she ran out at full speed clutching something under her arm.  An employee followed, but declined to give chase once she left the store.  It took me a second to process it, but clearly the girl was a shoplifter.  I was so close, if I had realized what was going on I probably could have blocked her with my bike for that second or so necessary for the employee to catch up.  But I didn't.  I just stood there watching it unfold.  They say that is a pretty common reaction in a stressful situation.  That instead of fight or flight, it is really freeze, than fight or flight.  By the time I had fully processed what was going on, she was 50 feet away and who was I to give chase.  There have been stories about employees that are sued when they chase down a shoplifter and cause injuries during the apprehension.  Not that I think this 15 year old girl had a strong legal team!  The thing I remember the most, was as she was running out the door, she turned around and laughed at the employee.  That made me think she was just stealing for the thrill of it, not because she needed whatever it was she took.

A similar thing happened a few years ago.  I was on 2 week leave from the middle of my tour in Afghanistan.  I had gone to a Best Buy store with my Mom and Sister.  We had finished shopping and were in the parking lot getting ready to get in our car.  All of a sudden, this young man, probably about 15, comes running by.  You could tell from the way he was running that he had been running for awhile.  He wasn't sprinting, he looked fatigued.  Just as I was processing that, I see a New York State Trooper, also on foot about 40 feet behind.  The microphone for his two way radio had fallen off the clip on his shoulder and it was trailing behind him.  It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to catch this kid.  Again, for a split second, I considered going after him.  I had fresh legs so I probably could have caught him.  But I didn't.  I didn't even try. 

The thing is, I would like to think of myself as having the natural instinct to give chase.  But, experience has proven otherwise.  Perhaps it has kept me out of trouble.  But, you can't help but feel like a bit of a coward.