Yesterday, A Robbery and A Pot of Soup

Yesterday started out like a welcome humdrum day back home, after a two week drive-a-thon on the East Coast. I looked forward an ordinary routine once the car was unloaded, bags unpacked and my condo was back in reasonble order. I relished getting back to humdrum.

Slept a little later than my usual 5 am wake-up, then fell into my favorite time-of-day with a great cup of coffee, devotional, quick perusal of the print edition of Investors Business Daily and then an unoriginal blog post. With my mind still decelerating from the trip, two YouTube videos seemed adequate enough for the day.

Since I was was ready for a home cooked meal, I set my sights and to do list on the kitchen. It was time to make a big pot of soup---the best way I know to ground myself after a long journey and too much eating out. My daughter was coming by later and so I prepared to brew a favorite concoction, chicken-vegetable soup with everything-but-the-kitchen-sink thrown in.

With only a few onions and carrots, olive oil and a box of baking soda rolling around in my empty frig, I made a list and ran for the car and the Kroger nearby. I love getting in and out of a newly stocked grocery store, early in the morning.

There's also something wickedly, deliciously appealing about having a open, empty parking lot, with only a handful of vehicles in the wee hours of the morning to yourself. It thrills me no end and gives a (false) sense of triumph over the ravages of our post modern world, something akin to outwitting the grim reaper a little while longer.

Woman enters almost empty parking lot.

Here as I closed my car door with my sights set on the okra/roma tomato departments that the excitement began:

Suddenly a man running as fast as he could with a BIG plastic bag burst out of the front doors of Kroger.

Next, three other men---all Kroger employees I recognized----ran out in hot pursuit. The quiet, empty parking lots had suddenly become a playing field.

I stood paralyzed watching to see what would happen next.

Just as the Kroger men nearly caught up with the robber, the bad guy tossed his bag in the bed of a BIG black pickup truck, jumped in the cab, power-locked the doors, revved his big engine and lifted off, going from zero to 30 in a split second.

NASA's space program had suddenly come to my Kroger parking lot. I was speechless, motionless.

The Kroger men continued to chase the truck until it turned out on the four-lane road and was last seen disappearing into the.... sunrise.
..
I'd just witnessed a robbery complete with NASCAR-type escape in huge black pick-up which looked and sounded like it was driven by Darth Vader. The good guys finally gave up their chase and turned to go back towards the store. They were pumped.

But, what was in the bag? Had the man escaped with thousands of dollars of small unmarked bills? And who was speeding away from my Kroger, down Harding Road, at this time of the morning?
What had happened inside, before I'd arrived?

********

Now, the rest of the story.

The robber sped off with a big bag of what? It wasn't money, thank goodness. And as far as anyone at Kroger knows, it was not an armed robbery. However, it was a still robbery, complete with cat and mouse antics all the way.

So let's see, what would a fairly big man, mid-thirties, in a big, shiny new black pick-up truck with Georgia license plates most want to eat or have someone fix, early in the morning?

If you guessed steak, roast and fillet, you'd be right. No eggs in the bounty evidently, but there was a large haul of red meat.

It was a high protein felony where the robber got away, I got and paid for the ingredients of the soup, and the fellows at Kroger got some morning exercise. They told me Saturday that though they reported the steak caper to the police, he's not been caught and is still on the loose. So be forwarned, a steak thief is still on the prowl and may be coming to a grocery /parking lot near you.