So I was off doing a demonstration evaluation shop from Observa. I am supposed to take a photo of the demo booth so I walk down the aisle with my camera app open and quickly snap a picture before the booth demo people notice. I am then immediately stopped by a man who is as wide as he is tall and quite muscular to boot. I'm a pretty big guy myself but not particular interested in crossing this guy. He accuses me of taking a picture of him and his baby, which I didn't. I even show him my photos app that there aren't any picture of him or his kid. The guy won't let yo finally I cut him off and tell him I didn't take a picture and leave me alone as I now walk off.

Now I can't do that part of the shop where I interact so I wander around and pick up some items and swing back by and the guy IS STILL THERE! So I wander off to do some other things and while I'm texting my wife this guy has tracked me down with an employee in tow. I start explaining that this guy started yelling at me that I took a picture of his kid and he interrupts by yelling that he wasn't yelling at me (which was true it just felt like it).

Raging roid man is getting worked up and then the Loss prevention manager shows up and they separate us. I'm still trying not to blow my cover. I sure her I don't have any pictures and he starts yelling that I can hide them in other folders and I shoot back that he can check any folder he wants. I reason with the LP manager that I just want to check out and head out and she glances at the miniature hulk and decides that's the best idea and escorts me through check out so no chance to go back in for my shop. Long story short I had to cancel the shop (because of the way this MSP works) and escape crazy guy.

I thought I'd share a funny story to brighten your day even though it was a little terrifying from my point of view. I feel bad for the guy because at the very least he was concerned someone was doing something to his kid, it just happened to not be the case.

And this is why I always take the picture *after* the demo... Hope your day got better, though.

Yeah, I'm going to do that from now on. It has gotten better, I'm chilling at home filling out other shops I've done today.

Wow. As many pictures as we take as mystery shoppers, you get the dude who is batcrap crazy over his daughter!

Yikes.

Intimidating.

Sadly, I have a nephew who would have reacted the same way. He does not allow any family posting to social media, has no presence on line, won't use a cell phone. Says he was in Intelligence, and knows we are watched all the time. He would go bat**** crazy if he thought a stranger was taking photos of him, his wife, or his kids.

Or his dog. Or his house, car, etc.

Glad your day got better!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2019 08:56AM by ceasesmith.

Your experience is, in my opinion, the principal reason why I dislike performing shops where you must take photos surreptitiously or secretly. There always seems to be someone who sees you, and, in rare instances like yours, becomes angry.
For some of the shops, that are secret and then revealed, like the "Green" and "Yellow" gas stations, we, as shoppers, are provided "official" nametags that, for the most part, seem to more pacify these "concerned" photo sensitive folks.
I wish the "Blue" gas stations offered them.
Although, in your described experience, I doubt anything would have appeased the man's concern.
Sometimes I wonder if some of these angry people are upset about other things and act out their rage at seemingly explainable incidents.
I'm sorry it happened to you.

Meanwhile, countless video cameras take his daughter's picture (and video) daily. Including, I'm sure, the retail location where the shop occurred.

I think I posted a few months ago how my local "Nextdoor" community was all up in arms about someone taking a photo at a fast food location. They were certain it was a pedophile taking photos of kids. When I suggested that it could well be a predator but it might be someone taking photos of the menu board for other reasons, they accused me of being stupid and naive.

People are stupid. Sorry you had to deal with this psycho. Usually, Darwinism weeds them out eventually.

This can happen. I lost a job one time because someone accused me of taking a picture of her children and this was for a company for whom I had worked for many years and was told that I was one of their best workers. I had to sign the vendor's book before taking any photographs,and the store saw my name and asked the lady if the person taking the picture was me and she said yes. I was not wearing a nametag and may have not even been at the store at the time but the customer is always right even if the customer is wrong.

On an assignment to verify a property location in a residential area via photos taken from the street, angry man came charging after me in a menacing confrontational manner, accusing me of trespassing and taking photos of his property, which was untrue. When I presented my authorization letter, he said he would " take care of this himself " and so I called 911. The cops kept him busy while I got out of there. I am a F senior and he was younger than my youngest child. There are a lot of loose canons and I stopped accepting jobs that put me in danger. Not worth the pay to me.

I actually spoke to a colleague about this a few months ago regarding pictures and kids. If there are kids around an area that require a picture, I wait. I never take pictures with any kids around given the possibility of what OP just experienced. If time is an issue and I absolutely have to take a picture of an area that has a child with their parent/guardian nearby, then I'll discreetly take a pic of the area with the children facing away from the camera. This means that I pretty much have the back of their heads.

It isn't just the risk of angering a concerned parent. It creates a situation in which your camera or phone will have a record of what some people might allege is your photographic interest in children. Eep. And Yuck!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/02/2019 07:38PM by Shop-et-al.

My phone has a record of my interest in gas station bathrooms.

Eep, indeed.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

It isn't just the risk of angering a concerned parent. It creates a situation in which your camera or phone will have a record of what some people might allege is your photographic interest in children. Eep. And Yuck!

I am careful about taking the swimming pool pics at hotels. I don't want to be the weirdo taking pics of people in their bathing suits.

@ceasesmith wrote:

I have a nephew who would have reacted the same way. He does not allow any family posting to social media, has no presence on line, won't use a cell phone.

I hope that you respect his request. The photos are there forever and the fine print gives the site the right to use them ad infinitum. I don't do the big social media sites due to their privacy issues and do not have a huge footprint online. The cellphone thing is interesting, though. Seems that there should be a way around that such as turning data off or using an old style one where the battery can still be removed.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Yikes.

Intimidating.

Sadly, I have a nephew who would have reacted the same way. He does not allow any family posting to social media, has no presence on line, won't use a cell phone. Says he was in Intelligence, and knows we are watched all the time. He would go bat**** crazy if he thought a stranger was taking photos of him, his wife, or his kids.

Or his dog. Or his house, car, etc.

Glad your day got better!

Your nephew is online. If he has a bank account, he's online. If he has ever been arrested or in court for anything, it's online. If he has kids in school, they're online.