# You could have done more to stop the robbery.. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319 "2015-05-05T16:32:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/21 "2015-05-06T20:04:55Z")
There’s also the moral obligation that employee has to the other employees and customers in the store. If you hand over the money without resisting, the criminal has an incentive to leave the business without committing any additional crimes. But if you resist and the criminal responds by killing you, the criminal has now crossed the line into homicide and everyone else in the business is a potential witness who will testify against him - and that’s how a shooting spree begins. People who are tempted to be a hero need to remember it’s often not just their own lives they’re putting at risk. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/22 "2015-05-06T20:27:01Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > Someone who commits armed robbery of a Popeye’s is not the suave professional thief who says “give me the money and no one gets hurt” that you see on TV. This is a desperate, stupid person who is probably committing his first robbery with a gun he just acquired, and is either high on something or in withdrawal. There’s no telling what he might do. There are lots of news stories about employees, particularly fast-food employees, who “comply” and end up marched into the back to be shot for no reason anyway. > > Assessing the situation and realizing that you may be facing certain death if you comply but have a chance if you fight should be an option. The myth of the “guy who just wants the money” gets people killed. This sounds like a load of bullshit to me. Sure, there are always going to be the occassional situation where you have someone intent on killing no matter what. But in most of the robbery stories I’ve heard on the news, nothing like what you describe happens. In fact, most professional law officials will tell you NOT to resist. I’d like to know where the hell you’re getting these “news stories”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/23 "2015-05-06T20:38:46Z")
Go search Google News for “mcdonalds robbery” or such right now - there’s stories of people giving up money and not getting hurt, as well as stories of people getting shot, and one of the staff being marched into the freezer (which can obviously cause injury/death). You never know what someone who is stupid and on meth is going to do with a gun, and there has to be some room for individual self-preservation. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/24 "2015-05-06T20:53:06Z")
I’m just going to throw this out there, but stories where someone goes into a McDonalds and makes off with $100 while not hurting anyone, doesn’t make national news. The guy who inexplicably marches everyone into the freezer to commit multiple homicide while trying to steal $100, his story is repeated everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/25 "2015-05-06T20:56:41Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > Go search Google News for “mcdonalds robbery” or such right now - there’s stories of people giving up money and not getting hurt, as well as stories of people getting shot, and one of the staff being marched into the freezer (which can obviously cause injury/death). You never know what someone who is stupid and on meth is going to do with a gun, and there has to be some room for individual self-preservation. You’re moving the goalposts. Sure, if it appears a robber may be liable to kill you you should resist, _but that’s for the purpose of saving your own life_, not for simply preventing a robbery. I’m sure the cases of people complying with threats from robbers and not getting hurt vastly outnumber the cases of people who comply with lunatics and get hurt anyway. If you’re going to play the odds, you’ll comply. I was held up at gunpoint once on the subway in New York in a nearly empty station. I gave him my money without any hesitation. While it was nice to fantasize about successfully resisting afterwards, it certainly wasn’t worth the risk. ---
**Author:** ![Haberdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Haberdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haberdash)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/26 "2015-05-06T21:03:59Z")
What I’ve been saying is that individual people have to try to read individual situations, and if you don’t think that the person is going to just leave with the money, you have nothing to lose by trying to resist. Most people don’t have the luxury of being “robbed at gunpoint” in that situation – they get tackled and beaten before they know what’s happening. Your experience is not universal. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319/27 "2015-05-06T21:28:20Z")
> [@Haberdash](#): > > What I’ve been saying is that individual people have to try to read individual situations, and if you don’t think that the person is going to just leave with the money, you have nothing to lose by trying to resist. Sure, but that’s a far rarer event than people just leaving with the money, and as I said the purpose is to protect yourself, not to protect the money. > [@](#): > > Most people don’t have the luxury of being “robbed at gunpoint” in that situation – they get tackled and beaten before they know what’s happening. Your experience is not universal. I’ve been tackled and robbed a couple times too. The first time, when I was in my 20s, I was jumped by three kids on a dark street. I just let them take my money. The second time here in Panama I was surrounded and pushed down by some kids who tried to go through my pockets. That time I yelled for help because there were some other people close by. They didn’t come to my aid, but the kids fled anyway without getting anything. If I’m faced with an armed robber who threatens “Your money or your life,” [unlike Jack Benny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tVzdUczMT0) I don’t have to think long about it. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-have-done-more-to-stop-the-robbery/719319.md?page=1)