Pulling a Winona

I saw White Chicks last week, about two black men impersonating two white women. One scene in the movie had a girl use the phrase "pulling a Winona".
I guess everyone knew what she meant by that -- shoplifting

It triggered an unpleasant memory for me...

I was 13 and had gone shopping for groceries with my mother and one-year-old sister. We went to this place called Kerry's in Ampang (it's no longer there.. now the place is called Ampang City Centre).

Anyway, my mom pushed the trolley which my sister happily sat in for a ride around the supermarket. I was given the task to look for several items on the other end of the supermarket - which, as a dutiful little daughter, I did.

So off I went picking out cheese, cordial, fresh juice etc. I walked down the aisle packed with chocolates and picked out a KitKat for my little sister. (I'd always wanted a sister and after she was born, I spoiled her rotten).

After I'd taken everything from the list, I went in search of my mom. I dumped all the goodies in the trolley and took-over the task of pushing it to the counter. As I did that, I noticed that my sister was clutching a pack of Smarties in her little fists. (My mom spoiled her rotten too!) So I thought that since too much sugar for a toddler was probably not a good thing, I took out the KitKat and placed it on a shelf near the counter.

My mom paid for the groceries and we merrily went to the bakery to get some donuts for tea. I then remembered that I needed to stop by the book-rental place to return some books so I told my mom to wait for me at the bakery while I rushed out for a few minutes.

The minute I stepped out of the supermarket, a man accosted me.

He was dressed in a white shirt and black pants. He had on a pair of sunglasses (which was pretty odd since he came from inside the building). He flashed his wallet at me and mumbled something incomprehensible.

All I saw in the wallet was a photo of a young girl (presumably his sweetheart)and I was puzzled. He then mumbled something even more incomprehensible and I had to ask him to repeat himself. He pointed to a little card slipped behind the photo, identifying himself as the store security. He then told me to follow him back inside the building.

I stood my ground and asked him why. He started his whole mumbling mantra and guided me inside the store. (Remember, I was 13, I was still "respectful" of the authorities....)

As I walked with the FBI-wannabe, I passed by the bakery and managed to call out to my mom who hurriedly followed us.

We were taken to the dungeon.
Okay, so it was a small back-room behind the supermarket - but it was dark and dreary so allow me to call it a dungeon.

Another fellow was seated at a desk in the dungeon. He was round and bald, and looked pretty cheery. He asked the FBI-wannabe what was up. FBI-wannabe said his first comprehensible statement of the day "Dia pencuri"

Omigod. I almost died.

I was 13! I had barely learned to LIE yet, least of all STEAL! Those two words struck ice-cold fear down my veins, despite me being completely innocent.

Round-Man asked FBI-wannabe what I stole. FBI-wannabe says "Cokk ke latt" (That's how he pronounced it... I can still hear it after all these years)

I then realized that he must've been talking about the KitKat, so I adamantly tried to convince Round-Man that I had taken the damn thing but changed my mind when I saw that my sister already had a pack of Smarties and that I had placed it on the shelf near the counter. I even offered to take them to the shelf to verify my statements.

FBI-wannabe shook his head gravely and said " Cek beg".

Fine.
I slipped my backpack off my shoulders and dumped the contents on the Round-Man's table. Round-Man took a cursory look at the contents (2 books, a pen, a spiral notebook, a comb, a piece of chewing gum and wallet) and told FBI-wannabe "Takder pun".

FBI-wannabe went livid. He stomped to the table and dug through my humble 13-year-old personal items and muttered on and on "Saya nampak dia ambik tadi. Saya nampak... saya nampak dia ambik.. saya nampak tadi..."

I was bloody pissed off (as pissed off as a 13 year old could be) and snapped at him "Awak nampak saya letak dalam beg ke?"

He gave me his best FBI-wannabe Glare...

Round-Man told him to step aside and proceeded to return my backpack, items intact. He apologized profusely for the "confusion" while my mother, snapping out of her shock, rebuked them for falsely accusing an innocent girl whose mother had just spent RM300 on groceries at their store yadda yadda yaddaa.

Round-Man apologized again and again while FBI-wannabe stood near the corner, mumbling his incomprehensible mantra crap again.

We left in a huff and I vowed never to go to Kerry's ever again.
It was a terrible, terrible experience for me, and I remember being very upset at being so unfairly treated. I even memorized FBI-wannabe's face so that if I run into him in the street... I could run over him.

That was quite a traumatic experience for a young girl, honest.

Funny thing was, my mom later told me that she didn't notice that my sister was clutching a pack of Smarties and thus, didn't pay for it...

My sweet, little one-year-old sister had pulled a Winona.