Always Plan Ahead
By Cinique’ Scott

The fire raged on as the onlookers grieved. They were all wondering how such a tragedy could happen. My stomach rumbled as the stench of charred bodies was starting to overwhelm me. A single discarded cigarette had started this blaze of death. I stood there befuddled in front of the building and counted my blessings. I was glad to have been one of the few that escaped. I could only think of the advice that man gave me that day.
I was walking down Tenth-Avenue on a gloomy day when I spotted a man exiting his car. I noticed his lights were on so I yelled out,
“Hey buddy, your lights are on!”
He turned to the Lincoln, looked at me and smiled then reached in the door and turned them off. He then said,
“Hold up a minute. I just wanted to thank you for your help. Do you realize how hard it is to find decent human being in this day and age? I planned on being heah for a while and this little mishap woulda made my day really nasty if my caboose didn’t start when I got back. Boom, in return for your hos-pi-ta-wit-e I would like to give you some advice.”
I stopped and turned toward the man with a curious look on my face. This man was dressed in a seemingly expensive Italian suit with all the accessories. He spoke with an upstate accent, “What’s ya name buddy?”
“Steven,” I responded.
“Steven, heah’s some advice that has helped me in the past and I hope it does the same for you. Always plan ahead.” I looked at him with a wondering face, and then proceeded to tell him thank you and be on my way, but he cut me off by finishing,
“Let me give you an example of what I mean,” he went on.
“Say you wanted to rob a bank. God forbid you ever had to do that…but let’s just say that you did. We’ll say that ya cased the joint for about a month at least, and had some wise guys on hand. What do you think the most impoant thing would be?” I hesitated at first because the subject of his explanation threw me off, I never expected him to talk about something corrupt. Then I mumbled,
“I guess the most important thing is to try not to kill anyone in the process.” “Suwa…” he said.
“That’s impoant too, but not most impoant. The most impoant thing is that you plan ahead.” He lays his arm around my shoulder and continues. “This is what I mean buddy. Let’s say you cased the joint for about one mont or so. You knew when the dough came to the building and when it lef. You knew how many people handled the dough and at what times. You knew who woyked there and what days were the most vulnerable. You would need blueprints of the place so that you knew everything about their security system, entrances, and exits. You could even go inside and get a visual of where the cameras are among other things. The most impoant of all is the way out. Any idiot with a gun can rob a bank but it takes a skilled genius to get away wit it. Let’s also say that while casing the joint ya find an underground tunnel that led right under the bank. You could easily pick an early morning time after the money arrives and before customers get there. Bust in wearing ski masks, whip cream all the cameras, and hold the employees hostage. Move everyone, except key money extracting individuals, toward the front door as a human shield’s against snipers. Make them crouch down so they can’t see what’s going on behind them. And just hold up in the bank collecting money until the cops come. Before the cops come make sure you blow your tunnel hole. This is very impoant.
Now doing this may sound crazy but let me explain how this will woik. You have planned ahead so you already have some ATV’s waiting further down the corridor. No one knows who you are so while those people are facing the front exit, your crew all leaves except for one. Thirty minutes after your crew leaves, have the hostages count out loud to fifty by ones and then they can start to exit. That last person in your crew is to take off all the gear and act like a hostage from that point on. If the last person waits long enough they all can get away with a large sum. Granted no one seen him or her change behind their backs. By having one person inside, while the rest escaped, gave them enough time to get away with the dough. Then the cops will be goose-chasing someone through a tunnel that have been long gone.”
I hesitated for a moment kind of shocked by what this man just told me. I then said, “Thanks for the advice.”
“No problem.” he says.
I walked on to my destination unaware of my surroundings, thinking about what just transpired. It was too much for me to believe, but it did happen.
I never thought about that man until now. I never realized how much he taught me in ten minutes. Now that I am standing outside this establishment I realize that he was right. You should always plan ahead. If I hadn’t planned an alternate way out of that restaurant I would surly be dead. I had planned an alternate way out of every building I went since the day I spoke with that man. Three years later, and his advice helped saved my life. I never did get that mans name, but I’m sure that he was part of the Mafia. I could have been killed along with the other seventeen people that were trampled, burned, and died tonight. I effectively searched for another exit when I got inside the restaurant so I knew three different ways out. Everyone else only knew of the one they came in through. So all of the people where trying to get out of one door. I stand here today as a blessing to a man I hardly knew. He gave me the weirdest advice, which saved my life and may save yours so I pass it to you as well…Always Plan Ahead!