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Stick ’em Up!

The chickens we don’t even have yet almost got us arrested!

On our way home from Joplin, we stopped in at a farm supply store.  I’m not going to say the name of it because I don’t want anyone to think badly of them.  We were inside talking to the lady in the chicken department.  How many eggs per day will they lay?  Which ones will lay the most eggs?  How long will they lay before they stop?   She was very nice and helpful.  We decided to buy a book about chickens and were at the front checkout paying.

All of a sudden we looked up and here come three Sheriff’s Deputies . . two come in the right door, one comes in the left door and they kinda have us surrounded.  They’re looking at me.  I think they decided I was harmless. They’re looking at Vince.  Maybe not so harmless; looks pretty calm; looks can be deceiving . . you never know.

We were the only customers in the store.  The deputies kept looking from me to Vince to the checkout lady.  She obviously knew them — it’s a very small town.  She said “What are you doing here? What do you want?”

They said:  The silent alarm went off.

I’m still standing there in shock.  I was halfway scared the way they kept looking at us.

The checkout lady said “Oh, the new girl was cleaning and re-arranging” and she picked up this little gadget about the size of a key chain.  That was the silent alarm and I guess the new girl moved it from Point A to Point B and in the process, pressed the button.

The checkout lady was laughing as she picked up the microphone and said “Susie, come to the front and see what you’ve caused!”

I’m still not so sure the sheriff’s guys are convinced we’re ok.  They said “we’ll just walk around the store and have a look”.  Like . . maybe these people have threatened you and you’re too scared to tell the truth.  By now, we’re done paying and I said “can we leave?”  The lady said yes, one of the deputies said yes so Vince and I walked out both laughing but happy to get in the car and get the hell out of Dodge!

Should we take this as a sign that we shouldn’t get chickens?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. LOL Judy, for someone who doesn’t go out very often you certainly have your share of excitement!! he he he I can just imagine how you & Vince must have felt (kind of the same way I feel every time I see a police car in my rear view mirror!!).

    Maybe once you have the chickens you will not have to go out as often so, the chickens might actually protect you!

    Have a wonderful, uneventful, day,

    In peace & pieces,

    Sherry V.

  2. Oh no, wierd position to be in isn’t it ! As far as chickens, I’ve had good luck with sex link breed. They lay brown eggs and are early layers, about 4 to 5 months.And they are very personable ! All I have to do is yell come on girls and they come flying from wherever. I do enjoy my chicks and know you will be too. Oh, the sex links can be black or red.

  3. You have to love small towns, since everyone knows everybody and they all look out for ya!

    I did the same thing one time – two of my staff are outside waiting for me and I am putting in the alarm code. Only I messed up the last number of the sequence which resulted in the silent alarm and the police coming. Once my staff stopped laughing, the cops thought it was funny. At least, I didn’t get a ticket for excess false alarms!

    However, based on what others have said in a previous post – the chickens that you buy could become your “loud” alarms – or maybe that’s just the rooster that is the alarm clock!

    Have a great day!!

  4. You do have a knack for getting into the middle of things….VBG…
    Once upon a time I worked for a grocery store. A new alarm system was installed.(remember, this was years ago and the entire concept of a silent alarm was new).

    The little box was mounted right in front of the button (like a sewing machine pedal) that you pressed your hip against to start the belt…. We had to wear smocks and as in any store if you weren’t busy you did other things. I had been stocking shelves and had a case cutter in my pocket when I was called to the front to assist in checking out.

    All at once I heard a lot of noise behind me and turned around to find myself staring into the barrel of a gun held by a police officer.

    The alarm button had to be pushed from the side and it seems that as I was ‘hipping’ that pedal to get those groceries checked out, the case cutter slid forward in my smock pocket and pushed the alarm. At least we all had something to chat about on break……………….

  5. I can hear all the hens clucking……..at the local cafe!!! 😉
    My dad goes to the local cafe and some of the stories he hears are hilarious. He’d get a good chuckle out of this one.

  6. This is why I love to come and read what you have to say!! My whole family has things like this happen to them all the time, and I don’t – so I live to hear what is happening now. Coming to your blog is like ‘family’ and I love it!! This is a great story and now, I can hardly wait to hear what happens when the chickens come to stay…… Mom had some pretty funny stories when she and Dad had a shetland pony …. they are not supposed to come into the house, and this one did, when it got scared and Mom had just finished waxing the floor!! Mom is not an animal person by any means, and now she has this pony in her kitchen that won’t move!!! So, I am going to be waiting to hear what kind of adventures you get into when the chickens come to roost!!!
    Oh, that is a funny story!!

  7. Funniest story ever. I laughed so hard, Maggie and Starr came running out of the bedroom to see what was going on. And it takes a lot to get those two up and running.

    Too funny. I bet your eyes were as big as saucers.

  12. Really Judy, you could write a book on your adventures and include quilt patterns among the stories that relate to them! Your farm supply store is a hoot!

  15. You crack me up, Judy. This could only happen to you. ROFLMAO. Actually, if it is an omen, I think it means you must have chickens. Look at all the excitement it will bring to your life. LOL.

  18. I just hope that you enjoy your girls as much as my DH & I do. We got 10 eggs today. And our garden enjoys the boost from cleaning out their pooper.
    That lady needs to get a life and . . Oh well you know.

  19. Oh my… I’ve been the girl who pushed the silent alarm! It’s not fun… but the darned thing looked like a garage door opener, and we couldn’t figure out why it would be in a desk drawer (mine, in fact, but I and the other girl were new…). I think we pushed it two or three times, listening carefully each time trying to figure out what it did. The police officers did not find it amusing 🙂

  20. Maybe her husband has locked her in a room with only a computer because he can’t stand being around her anymore. You keep posting whatever you want to post about and ask whatever questions you want to ask. Last I knew you could only learn by researching and asking questions. Keep you chin up and know this women must be one lonely miserable person. You are a great American and I am proud to have the priviledge to read your blog.

  21. One upon a time, a very long time ago, I had a new job with a CPA firm that audited banks. The first time I counted a cash drawer, I noticed a $20 bill off by itself, with a slim packet under it. I’m happy to say that I did NOT touch it, but instead asked the teller why it was there. She confirmed that it was the bait/dye pack. I still can’t believe that the CPA firm didn’t warn us about that!

  22. Chickens can be a great joy in life. They are far more entertaining to me than TV. Yes they poop, so does every other living thing. We live in the tropics so if there were going to be flies I think we would have them. Chickens eat bugs and crawly things, no crawlies, no flies. That person clearly doesn’t know what she is talking about.

    Roosters are not essential to the happiness of hens. When you buy sexed chicks, about 1 in 10 pullets, isn’t, except for the sex link chicks which are easy because boys and girls are different colors.

    I would not have straw in the bottom of the hen house unless it was freezing and in my experience a nice bale of horse stall shavings is a lot easier to manage than straw. You use a shovel like a snow scoop unless you are fortunate enough to have a snow blade for your lawn tractor. Shavings work in the nesting boxes too. Don’t want poop in the nest boxes, don’t put a roost over them. Common sense huh?

    Just don’t get cedar shavings they smell AWFUL if they get wet.

    I am getting ready to order my next batch of chickens, we get them every two or three years, and they come all the way from your state. I raise them from day old and handle them a lot and they get very very tame.

    You rock girlfriend, don’t change, we like you the way you are.

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