Dictionary.com says robbing means to take something by unlawful force or threat of violence. Robberies seem like things that only take place in movies, but they can occur at any time.

Imagine being in a situation with an armed robber. The videos on the news of someone walking into a convenience store and pointing a gun at the cashier seem unreal, like it could never happen to you. Yet, robberies are becoming more and more common in the US.

8.3% of robberies happen at convenience stores and local businesses. There is one robbery reported in the US every minute. Pennsylvania is ranked the 6th state in the rate of robberies. Since 2005, robberies have increased by 7.2%.

I have a personal experience with local robberies. On Black Friday this year, I found myself handing the three hundred dollars in the Dairy Queen cash register over to a man in a mask.

I went in to work expecting a normal day; me and my coworker Aja would have to make an insane amount of Blizzard cakes during the daylight hours, someone would complain that there wasn’t enough peanut butter cup in their Blizzard, and the day would drag on forever.

Around 2:30, Aja went back to manage the cakes in the freezer while I continued with my Oreo Blizzard cake. I noticed a customer come in, and I stopped making my cake to take his order.

But this man didn’t ask for a chocolate milkshake; he asked for all the money in the register. At work meetings, my boss had told us plenty of times that if we were ever in this situation, we should do what the robber says and call the cops right away.

Luckily, while the robbery was taking place, a woman sitting at the red light on Library Road noticed and called the cops. When the cops arrived, I explained to them the situation, and they checked to see if the man was still in the area.

“We were glad that Mackenzie wasn’t  hurt and she did the right thing by giving him the money,” said Mary Kay Allen, owner of the BP DQ.

The man that robbed this Dairy Queen is now in custody, but there are many other robberies like this going on in the country.

I recently received my February 2013 edition of Seventeen Magazine and noticed a headline on the front page: “I Was Robbed At Gunpoint!”

Reading about another girl’s robbery scare made me realize that I’m not the only one who has been through this.

Going through an armed robbery was a scary thing, but in the words of my fellow robbery victim, Morgan from Seventeen, “Whenever I feel under pressure, I remember that moment. It helps me know I can beat any situation.”