In an unguarded moment

When we think of modern shopping centres, we think of clean, shiny, friendly and - above all - safe environments, monitored by CCTV cameras and a team of professionally-trained security guards, poised to intervene whenever or wherever shoppers are in danger. Or so I thought until a couple of weeks ago

 Nathan North

For those of us old enough to remember, shopping malls are now a world away from the damp, draughty and - worst of all - dangerous precincts of the 60s and 70s. As we stroll around these glittering temples of consumption, the blend of piped music and the treasures on display in every store window seem to hypnotise us into thinking that handing over our hard-earned cash is a joyful experience. Our propensity to spend is even more enhanced by the feeling that we are safe and sound within the walls of the building.
A few weeks ago it was closing time at Złote Tarasy, the most well-known shopping centre in Warsaw, and as I was leaving the main entrance I noticed an unattended carrier bag lying outside. As is my wont, I picked up the bag to see if there was anything inside and whether I should hand it in to lost property. It turned out that inside there was just an empty food jar and a pair of old gloves - nothing really worth handing in. But as I was about to put the bag down again, a man in the uniform of the alcoholics and glue-sniffers who loiter around the nearby Central Station suddenly ran up to me shouting. He grabbed the bag off me and within seconds I was surrounded by his associates, all of whom were shouting and gesticulating aggressively towards me. After a few minutes of this I decided to walk off, as coolly as I could. One of the women in the group followed me, pestering me in Polish for a cigarette. Then she grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. As I tried to shake her off, one of her friends joined us, grabbing the bag slung over my shoulder with my laptop inside. With these two hanging onto to me, I became aware that I was heading in the direction of the train station. Even if I could shake them off, they would have undoubtedly followed me into the labyrinth of tunnels under the station - a place where no-one can hear you scream if jumped on by thieves. Realising this, I finally freed myself of my assailants and ran back inside Złote Tarasy to take refuge in the centre's apparent safety.
All I had to do now was to explain the situation to the security guard patrolling the entrance. I'd been a little surprised that he hadn't intervened when I was accosted by the loiterers in the first place - but maybe he hadn't seen the incident. In any case, I was now making a direct appeal for his help, albeit in my broken Polish. However, he didn't seem at all interested and barely acknowledged me - and much to my consternation, my attackers had also followed me inside and were now haranguing the guard. Since he was refusing to help me, I now implored him to call the police or at least his manager - appeals that once again fell on deaf ears. It suddenly became all too apparent why my assailants were completely unafraid of him: they knew that he wasn't going to do anything ever. By now I was getting quite upset and worried about the prospect of having to walk out and be attacked again, and raised my voice to the guard to make it clear to him exactly how scared I was. His response was to point to the door and bawl "OUT!!" in my face.
The gang, of course, were loving this. After having a good laugh at me, they eventually seemed to get bored and left, but I certainly wasn't going to venture out if they were still lurking around. A senior security man finally appeared and ushered me to another exit. When I asked him why the guard hadn't taken any kind of action to assist a customer who was in some distress, he told me that they can't do anything. All that I can do in such a situation is to over-power my assailants (there were about five of them), restrain them and somehow call the police while doing so. Very reassuring, I thought, as I finally left the centre, praying that my would-be muggers weren't still waiting for me around the corner. Maybe it is the case in every Polish shopping centre that security doesn't want to get involved in such incidents - or maybe it is only in Złote Tarasy. In any case, the next time you visit the mall just remember not to be attacked, because whatever it is that the security is there to do, it's not to come to your aid.