A surprise when shopping

[Paul]

Dunno where you all live but we've got one of little shops where they sell off unwanted stock.
"The tin lady" is what the owner is affectionately called.

So I'm buying even more beans, rice, tinned toms, etc, and another shopper (female) comments about me stocking up.

"Not really" says I "just weekly shopping".
"No you're not, your probably a prepper like me".

OK, it's one of those moments.
GCHQ, thought police, government spy, NWO, or even trading standards floods into my mind.

Dunno why she should think that, I'm not dressed in field clothing or got my tin hat on so either she is telepathic or . . . . well I'm not sure what the "or" was.

Glancing in her basket I see two tins of peas and a packet of custard. Hardly a prepper shop in itself.

Luckily (as it turned out) my mobile rang and excusing myself I went outside to talk.

When I re-entered she had left and my favorite tin lady was in a bit of a state. Apparently the lady had put back what she had in her basket and walked out but not before she had questioned the owner about me and whether there were other hoarders or preppers in the area.

No official ID or anything, just questions about clientele who stockpiled and specifically "preppers".
Left my lovely lady a bit confused wondering what it was all about as she had never heard of "A prepper".

Now I'm Mr paranoid when it comes to my prepping.
It's not like I'm trying to hide things through embarrassment but would rather keep what I do unknown by the local population.
Seems simple OPSEC to me.
Didn't stop me looking in the mirror the whole way home which took me on a "nice" circular 15 mile route.

What think you?

[TOF]

I'd probably have had a similar reaction. I don't like my face to be associated with what I do. There's only one other person who could recognise me and knows I'm a prepper.
On the plus side... you had a nice drive out and about. Albeit a paranoid one.
Get your tin lady a box of chocs or bottle of wine to keep her sweet. she'd probably give you the lowdown on that womans habits and shopping. Forewarned and all that.

[Hrusai]

wow what a stark reminder, certainly an odd experience all on its own, i guess the best thing to do in such a situation is to act as casual as you possible can, saying weekly shopping is a great thing to say, or something like, well i just care about the coins in my pocket, or this place does really nice <insert nice item here>....even something as simple as what's a prepper?...or crack a joke about how it sounds funny, anything to throw them off the scent or to make you seem ignorant!

at any rate that is certainly not the usual experience and is exceptionally suspicious...if you are on good terms with the shop owner, as it sounds like you are, i'd simply politely enquire as to if she's seen this woman before, or if its a usual sort of thing to be asked, and even whats a prepper, again to throw off any suspicion!

make a good mental note of what sort of person asks this sort of question, from small details like wedding ring or not, stance etc more often than not small details like odd bulges in clothing andthe way they hold themselves can tell you a surprising amount, and wether or not they are an official sort

also TOF definately had the right idea with the box of chocs or wine, definately a good idea!

anyway thanks for the stark reminder of the times we live in, shall strive to be more careful from now on

[NorthernRaider]

I think she is a prepper rather than a plod who may be feeling a tad embarrased about how her approach went wrong, The contacts I have had that made me nervous always refered to us as survivalists in the gun crazed, cammo wearing nut job category rather than the Mrs Beatons Cookbook prepper most of us really are.

She could also be a journalist cos they are useless twats always looking for nests of knife weilding survivalist psychos to expose or she could be a mormon.

[Skean Dhude]

Being paranoid we think the worst. Plod will get a lot more mileage scanning your eBay purchases than standing in a discount store in the middle of a recession.

It probably was another prepper who hasn't yet thought about OPSEC. Plod would have waited till you finished your call before trying to restart a conversation.

I would have asked Prepper? and seen what the response was although not been able to do that I would have been careful going back to the car. Plod just need the number, they don't need to follow you home.

Just my view.

[NorthernRaider]

Hey every time you use your switch card, visas card or lonline sdhop or use your loyalty points cards you tell the state everything they need to know, they dont need a bimbette trying to start up a conversation to work out if you are part of the resistance.
Vive La Mort, Vive La Guerre, Vive la ever ready preppernair

[bigpaul]

still, i think i might be a tad suspicious seeing as how she put all the stuff in her basket back and all the personal questions?? i think i would be a bit paranoid if it happened to me...

[Paul]

Problem for our tin lady is that it's a cash no receipt type of enterprise.
That's probably another reason why I alarmed up.
It's all above board, just left over stock, no state secret.
That's why I thought of trading standards until the issue with stock pilers and preppers came up.

As for my lovely tin lady, no problem there, she knows me of old (but still doesn't know I'm a prepper). I didn't enlighten her either. For once, ignorance is bliss I'm thinking.

As for the woman,
30-45 (I'm lousy at guessing a woman's age), mousey brown clean hair, pony tail, untanned good skin, pleasant face, dark eyes, no glasses, 5'3-5", averagely over weight.
Not smart but not untidy, jeans, moccasin type shoes,
No rings, no smell of cigarettes, Bluetooth earpiece but no phone on show, no handbag, right handed I'm guessing as her digital cheapy watch was on the left.
Accent nondescript. Could have come from anywhere.

Car, only one in the car park besides mine and the staffs vehicles (I go there a lot), blue Corsa, 56 reg, good condition, good tires. Reg plate noted on BOLO list in my car.
It pays to have a scratchpad and pen handy in your car.

Besides all that, being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

[bigpaul]

(10 August 2012, 15:29)Paul Wrote: Problem for our tin lady is that it's a cash no receipt type of enterprise.
That's probably another reason why I alarmed up.
It's all above board, just left over stock, no state secret.
That's why I thought of trading standards until the issue with stock pilers and preppers came up.

As for my lovely tin lady, no problem there, she knows me of old (but still doesn't know I'm a prepper). I didn't enlighten her either. For once, ignorance is bliss I'm thinking.

As for the woman,
30-45 (I'm lousy at guessing a woman's age), mousey brown clean hair, pony tail, untanned good skin, pleasant face, dark eyes, no glasses, 5'3-5", averagely over weight.
Not smart but not untidy, jeans, moccasin type shoes,
No rings, no smell of cigarettes, Bluetooth earpiece but no phone on show, no handbag, right handed I'm guessing as her digital cheapy watch was on the left.
Accent nondescript. Could have come from anywhere.

Car, only one in the car park besides mine and the staffs vehicles (I go there a lot), blue Corsa, 56 reg, good condition, good tires. Reg plate noted on BOLO list in my car.
It pays to have a scratchpad and pen handy in your car.

Besides all that, being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

very strange-maybe Inland Revenue...could have been a prepper.. but only a prepper would use the term prepper...until 3 years ago i'd never ever heard the term prepper....but what about all the references to "hoarders"?? my money is on some kind of "civil servant".( anybody makes a comment about your purchases in future you could say ("I'm buying it for the foodbank")-in this case the foodbank is your own larder or wherever you keep your stores)

[Hrusai]

(10 August 2012, 15:29)Paul Wrote: Problem for our tin lady is that it's a cash no receipt type of enterprise.
That's probably another reason why I alarmed up.
It's all above board, just left over stock, no state secret.
That's why I thought of trading standards until the issue with stock pilers and preppers came up.

As for my lovely tin lady, no problem there, she knows me of old (but still doesn't know I'm a prepper). I didn't enlighten her either. For once, ignorance is bliss I'm thinking.

As for the woman,
30-45 (I'm lousy at guessing a woman's age), mousey brown clean hair, pony tail, untanned good skin, pleasant face, dark eyes, no glasses, 5'3-5", averagely over weight.
Not smart but not untidy, jeans, moccasin type shoes,
No rings, no smell of cigarettes, Bluetooth earpiece but no phone on show, no handbag, right handed I'm guessing as her digital cheapy watch was on the left.
Accent nondescript. Could have come from anywhere.

Car, only one in the car park besides mine and the staffs vehicles (I go there a lot), blue Corsa, 56 reg, good condition, good tires. Reg plate noted on BOLO list in my car.
It pays to have a scratchpad and pen handy in your car.

Besides all that, being paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

damn good memory, and very observant! skills im trying to learn ...from a brief encounter thats alot to remember ^^