# What Just Happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125 "2011-08-18T06:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/21 "2011-08-18T22:40:26Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > **picunurse** –are you a minority member? > > _That_ could explain it. > > Minority Member + ATM + Bigotry = 0 to 99 in 3 seconds flat. I don’t get it. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/22 "2011-08-18T22:54:06Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Perhaps the hoodlums just wanted to bask in the starry sky and get some moon on their faces? (esp if the nights have been overcast lately) > > Or better yet, I just don’t know and you’re right it does sound suspicious. Actually **picunurse** was the one in the convertible. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/23 "2011-08-19T00:19:21Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I don’t get it. 😕 Translation: A person of another race will scare off a white person from an isolated ATM, as said white person will fear being mugged. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/24 "2011-08-19T00:42:35Z")
Sounds to me like some sort of undercover police thing. They could have been undercover (or unmarked cop cars) cops hot on the trail of some criminal. You just happened to be there at the wrong time. The whole parking so close thing is what smells of police work to me. They do that so if you _were_ the criminal; they’d have a hard time getting out and fleeing. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/25 "2011-08-19T01:03:36Z")
My money’s on a drug deal. Wait, that came out wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/26 "2011-08-19T01:07:54Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Sounds to me like some sort of undercover police thing. > > They could have been undercover (or unmarked cop cars) cops hot on the trail of some criminal. You just happened to be there at the wrong time. > > The whole parking so close thing is what smells of police work to me. They do that so if you _were_ the criminal; they’d have a hard time getting out and fleeing. Having witnessed (as a bystander, I swear) many parking lot drug deals myself, it’s common for one car to pull up as close as possible to another so the the buyer does not have to lean out and look too obvious. Trust me - it’s _ **always** _ obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/27 "2011-08-19T02:21:55Z")
> [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](#): > > Having witnessed (as a bystander, I swear) many parking lot drug deals myself, it’s common for one car to pull up as close as possible to another so the the buyer does not have to lean out and look too obvious. > > Trust me - it’s _ **always** _ obvious. True. But drug dealers just aren’t going to make a deal in front of a bank. No way no how. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/28 "2011-08-19T02:38:48Z")
I don’t know what it is but it seems unlikely to me to be an illicit love affair. Surely such people would recognise each other and know the vehicles? (Unless it was something like wife swapping or some deal done sight unseen but then how would the guy know that you weren’t the one?) Parking so close? No idea. Why did the guy take off in reverse- I assume enough room to go forward. Only reason I can think of is to make it more difficult for you to get his number plate. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/29 "2011-08-19T02:53:01Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > True. But drug dealers just aren’t going to make a deal in front of a bank. No way no how. In my experience, drug dealers in general, often being partakers of their own wares, aren’t really known for wise forethought. They’ll be completely paranoid about the most innocuous things, but not care about things like being caught on camera. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/30 "2011-08-19T03:12:50Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > **picunurse** –are you a minority member? > > _That_ could explain it. > > Minority Member + ATM + Bigotry = 0 to 99 in 3 seconds flat. I’m an old, fat Welsh woman. I don’t think that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/31 "2011-08-19T03:15:38Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I don’t know what it is but it seems unlikely to me to be an illicit love affair. Surely such people would recognise each other and know the vehicles? (Unless it was something like wife swapping or some deal done sight unseen but then how would the guy know that you weren’t the one?) > > Parking so close? No idea. Why did the guy take off in reverse- I assume enough room to go forward. Only reason I can think of is to make it more difficult for you to get his number plate. Our state requires plates front and back, so I still could have gotten it if I’d been more on top of things. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/32 "2011-08-19T03:49:27Z")
_Welsh?!_ \ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/33 "2011-08-19T09:03:32Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _Welsh?!_ > > \ \ ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/34 "2011-08-19T09:10:51Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Our state requires plates front and back, so I still could have gotten it if I’d been more on top of things. Yes, but far more difficult to take it down via a rear vision mirror. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/35 "2011-08-19T14:01:54Z")
Another vote for Craigslist casual encounter gone wrong. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/36 "2011-08-19T14:07:15Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Only reason I can think of is to make it more difficult for you to get his number plate. I really doubt that that’s what their thought processes were. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/37 "2011-08-19T14:08:36Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > #1) Thieves and robbers like to target ATMs, especially in sparsely populated areas, for obvious reasons, and especially at night. One night I was bicycling through a strip mall after dark. There was one lone car sitting facing the bank ATM. Two men were sitting in the car with the lights off, watching in the direction of the ATM. That set off my own alarms, so I pulled around the corner and waited a few minutes. Maybe they were just filling out a deposit envelope in the dark. Or napping. But it became apparent that they were, well, lurking. So I pedaled around the corner and a couple of blocks away I see a police car sitting in a parking lot. I pedaled over and reported what I had seen. The police seemed to have trouble understanding why anyone would be alarmed to see two men lurking in the dark yards away from a poorly-lit ATM. I suggested they just drive slowly by the ATM and see if they spooked the lurking men, but the police had more questions – finally one officer asked me what _race_ the men were. Taken aback, I asked why that would matter. “So we can identify them,” was the reply. “Look, never mind if they’re the same guys I saw, wouldn’t you be interested in ANYONE lurking near an ATM who might exhibit nervousness or flee when you approach?” I replied. “What race are they?” the cops reiterated. Well, they happened in this case to appear to be black men. So I said so, reluctantly, and the police sprang into action and drove over there. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/38 "2011-08-19T14:13:18Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Believe me, if they asked, I would have handed over the $20.00. Can I have $20? Or, failing that, tree fiddy? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/39 "2011-08-19T15:21:51Z")
I like the Craigs-list idea. Drug-dealers wouldn’t meet at a bank. And I don’t think a couple that knew eachother and had arranged to meet at the bank would freak out just because another person was there, even if they were having an affair. But I could see a couple that arranged for a hook-up with a stranger at a bank getting spooked easily if the only other person there wasn’t what they expected. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125/40 "2011-08-19T16:21:41Z")
Maybe an undercover cop meeting an informant? Meeting at the ATM would give the cop some unobtrusive security because of the camera. Both parties would have good reason to spook at anything even a little unexpected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-just-happened/593125.md?page=3)