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If you worked at a bank that was being robbed

posted 5 years ago by JunoItsBill (93)
9 replies | jump to latest

If you were working at a bank that was being robbed, and you had an opportunity to press an alarm during the robbery, would you do it? I feel like doing that would put everyone in the bank at even more risk unnecessarily. If the police arrive before the robbers leave, then all of the employees/customers can become hostages or shot in the crossfire. The only positive thing sounding the alarm would do is increase the chances that the money is recovered or prevented from being stolen, but it also increases the risk of death/injury to the innocent people in the bank. I feel that the best thing to do is just go along with the robbers’ plan and then hit the alarm once they are out of the door. In the movie, if Claire didn’t try to be a hero and hit the silent alarm then she wouldn’t have been kidnapped and the male manager wouldn’t have had his face smashed with the butt of an assault rifle. It just seems reckless and stupid to hit an alarm during a robbery and risk peoples’ lives over insured money. The robbers could find out about the alarm or see cops coming and panic, putting people in needless danger. If the robbers had just immediately started executing people then I’d think hitting an alarm would be a good idea, but if they’re clearly just leaving without violence then sounding an alarm seems dumb. Am I missing something here? Did she do the right thing? I think not but let me know if I’m wrong.

[–] tph890 (489) 5 years ago

I think she was simply terrified, and wanted to scream “Help!”, and that button was the only help available, so she pushed it. Maybe it was also a part of her training.

[–] mplo (2361) 3 years ago

It was an absolutely asinine mistake that Claire made by pushing that silent alarm button. As I pointed out in another post, she could've gotten everybody in that bank, including herself, seriously injured or killed. Her assistant manager was seriously injured and ended up in the hospital, as it was.

If, indeed, pushing the button for the silent alarm was part Claire's training as a bank manager, it was way beyond stupid---and irresponsible, to boot.

[–] moviechatterer (16049) 3 years ago

why do they put the buttons there then?

[–] mplo (2361) 3 years ago

Maybe the buttons for the silent alarm(s) in the bank are for using when the robbers have already left the bank. Pushing that silent alarm while Doug MacRay and his fellow bank robbers were still in the bank was a dangerous mistake on Claire's part. She could've gotten everybody in that bank seriously injured and/or possibly killed or permanently maimed.

[–] mplo (2361) 3 years ago

I totally agree with you here, JunoItsBill. Hitting an alarm while a bank robbery is going in is a sure way to get people seriously injured or possibly killed. Claire should've just kept the hell away from that alarm and not been so stupid as to hit that silent alarm. She would not have been kidnapped, and the assistant manager wouldn't have been injured and lost vision in one eye.

Claire did not do the right thing at all, when she pulled that silent alarm. She could've gotten everybody, including herself, seriously injured or killed. Her assistant manager was seriously injured, as it was. As a bank manager, Claire should've known better and displayed more common sense than she did.

If Doug and his fellow bank robbers had NOT been wearing masks, however, the stakes would've been much, much higher: They would've more than likely started executing people to make positive that nobody could or would identify them. At least, when bank robbers wear masks, they hide their identify so that nobody can identify them, but that doesn't mean that bank robbers won't seriously injure or kill anybody that they think is standing in the way of getting what they want.

[–] Costumer (1829) 3 years ago

I worked for a retail store for 38 years. Our policy was clear that if we were being robbed follow all instructions from the robber and do NOT set off an alarm or call the police until they had left the store. The company did not want a hostage situation.

I had an argument with a manager once on that point. At a meeting she was saying if you saw something going on, call the police immediately. I had to pull the policy manual to prove to her that she was wrong.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Imagine! A self-important retail manager who did not know her own corporate policy. The hell you say!

Retail management has to be the worst management in the business world. I think retail managers have to take an intelligence test and are disqualified if they score in the triple digits.

[–] Costumer (1829) 3 years ago

No, its like everything else. Good ones and bad ones. Some get promoted for results and not for knowledge of the process. Some get a little power mad. And some are terrible and relish being in control. This one wasn't as bad as some I've seen. She just didn't get why some policies were in place. And to be fair, some policies have no reasonable reason for existing. Someone just decided there had to be a policy. Where I worked was, for most of my time there, better than many. They empowered their people to make reasonable decisions without a manager signing off. When a manager did have to sign off, there was a good business reason. And they would back their employees. I had to remove several shoppers for being abusive. I was never called on the carpet for it, even though I know for a fact several of them complained. Their concern was satisfaction for the customer; yes, for good business reasons. They believed it was better to lose some money now to make a customer happy and have them come back to buy more than to be protective of $5.00 and lose hundreds because they never come back. \

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[–] HarryShoulder (279) 3 years ago

My manager used to have me read his emails and explain what his boss was telling him what needed to be done. I think he was semi-illiterate.