1992. I graduated from a third tier mid-west university in the US. NO job, no money, no experiences and NO HOPE. The only thing I had in a time of recession was a useless MBA degree and extremely low self-esteem. How could I even possibly bring up that I have a Masters Degree in Finance and knows the M&M theory inside out, when I was applying for a job as a kitchen chef?
I had to take many part-time jobs to have my ends met. At one point, I had 4 part-time jobs at the same time. They were accounting clerk for a small tax firm, kitchen chef for an oriental food bar in Kroger, waiter in a Chinese restaurant, and night desk receptionist in a Indian owned motel.

In that hotel, right there, I was robbed… in a funny way.

My shift run from 9:00 pm until next morning around 7:00 am. I only worked 3 days in a week, so that I could take other jobs. The motel was in downtown area of a small town with about 50,000 people. It was not the best area, but no major crime center as well.
There were two windows in the reception room of the motel: one was a drive-through, and the other was the one facing a small lobby, which is accessible by the building door made of glass. All I had to do is just sitting behind the drive through window of the small motel office and check the guests in and out; but occasionally, there were customers coming through the office door and came close to the lobby window for checking ins. In most of the time, it was quite. And I could watch TV or read something.

One night around 3:00 am, I was watching TV and finishing up my midnight snack. I brought Chinese food from the restaurant I just worked before coming to the motel. There were a whole box of beef, veggies and a few egg-rolls.
A white car stopped in front of our office building. I saw a white man, bony and pale, stepping into the lobby and approaching the lobby window. “It’s a late customer”, that was the first thing popping up to my mind. I stopped eating and left my desk, came close to the lobby window and asked what I could help him.
Instead, I saw a hand gun pointing at my head, exactly at the place between my eyes! My mind and thought and breath went blank for a few seconds. I was speechless.

Quickly, I came to realize it is a robbery. I told myself I must be very calm, very very calm. I must do whatever he asked me to do. The robber told me to empty the cash register. I did it slowly. There were only about 100 dollar in the register. So, he was disappointed and asked where the rest of the cash are. I told him that they are all I had. He obviously believed me. Then he asked where is the owner of the motel. The owner just lives and sleeps next to the office. I, then, was asked to knock the door to his bedroom at the gunpoint.
After a few round of knocks on the door, the owner, still in this half sleep, opened the door separating the office from this bedroom. At that point, the robber was already inside the office. When the Indian guy saw the gun, he, to my surprise, closed the door in a split of second. And ran away like a rabbit! Gee, he was quick!
The robber, obviously, was shocked too. He hesitated a little bit, and turned around, grab whatever cash still left on the table and ran out of the office door to the lobby. All that happened within 10 seconds and I was doing nothing but watching. In the whole time, I was very coorporative and calm, indeed.
When the robber was about to leave the lobby, he turned around again, and waved to me and said “Bye”.
Out of blue, I responded with something I would never forget: “Would you , would you….like to have an egg roll?” “No, thanks.” He replied and left with his white car.