Yesterday I was assaulted at the shop

Yesterday I was assaulted at work.  I’m OK, I’ve got scrapes and bruises and a shoulder that can’t move much and goes click now which I’m sure isn’t right but apart from that, physically, I’ll head to the doctor today and I hope it won’t take much before I’m back to normal.  But the emotions are all over the place.  I feel ashamed that I couldn’t protect myself properly.  I feel embarrassed that my staff had to see me flat on the ground like that.  I’m angry that a couple of guys thought it OK to come to our shop, do that to me and then walk off with food that we had cooked them with love. 

But mostly I’m gutted that our customers, who came to Whananaki with their families for a good experience, had to witness such a sideshow and were put at risk themselves.  I’m also incredibly thankful to those who stepped up to help me.

I’ve never been assaulted.  What happened was I was pushed off our deck.  It was an impressive shove that sent me a couple of metres into the air before landing on the concrete.  The guy must go to the gym as he had excellent upper body strength.  I don’t think I was knocked out because I pretty quickly realised I was in a bit of a perilous position on the ground for them to continue to put the boot into me… but one of our amazing team members stepped in to save my arse and protect me.  He has a sixth sense for trouble and it took him about three seconds to get out from the deep fryer and get between me and a proper beating lying on the ground.  I am thankful I didn’t land on my head, it would’ve been a different story.

They were part of a wider group these two scumbags, including their own kids which was pretty sad.  They were very, very drunk which I didn’t realise straight away.  They were swearing at loud volumes and causing a scene.  F’ing this.  F’ing that.  F’ing you and F’ing me.  Maybe they didn’t like having to wait for their food, I don’t know.  People drink too much and they make dicks of themselves.  It happens, no big deal.  I asked them to keep it civil as we were a family joint.  One of them told me to F off, so I told them they needed to leave now.  Then - someone who I now know to be his twin brother - came around behind me and pushed me off the deck.  Didn’t see him coming.  No chance to protect myself.  It all happened so fast.

After that, they took their food and headed off laughing at what they’d done to me.  While I was on the phone with 111 they were joking with each other about finishing me off and ‘knocking this c*nt out’.  Classy stuff.  No, that’s minimising it.  It was scary.

The police couldn’t come last night, they were too busy despite the group staying in a tent just a few hundred metres from the shop.  It would’ve been an easy arrest.  No major, our local cop Smiley is going to sort it out today, but a good reminder - we need many more cops in Northland.  Taking a Whangarei unit to Whananaki is a commitment that keeps them out of town for a few hours, so I get why they didn’t come.  We have good footage and know the names of the people involved so whether they get dealt with at the time or later doesn’t matter as much.  As locals, however, we need to remember how far away we are from help and how important local support networks are when the shit hits the fan.

I’m just going to have a couple of days off the radio to regroup a bit.  We’ll get onto the DOC freedom camp when I get back and get to the bottom of who is stealing the soap from behind the hall.

But for now - and you can do this when you have your own radio station - I just want to thank those that helped me yesterday.  

G - your a hero mate - thank you and who knows what you saved from happening. 

Tiana - thank you for your first aid skills, you should become a first responder!

Maddi, Pippa, Cush and Hayley - thank you for your concern and your care.

Thank you to the doctor who was there and checked on me too.

And most of all - if you were a customer last night and witnessed that drama, we are incredibly sorry.  This is not Whananaki behaviour.  They are not local people, they were visitors, but regardless it’s not good enough.  Your night was spoiled and this behaviour is so counter to the family atmosphere we have tried to nurture at the store the rest of the time.  Please do come back another time so we can shout you tea to make up for it.  You shouldn’t have had to see that.  I’m really just so angry about that part in particular.

The twin brothers who did this will be regretting it today I am sure and I know the consequences will be significant for at least one of them.  That makes me sad too.  According to one of their partners who stuck around after to make sure I was OK they’re just normal guys.  They’re not crims.  One is in production and the other in admin.  I wonder how powerful they’re feeling today and if they’re still laughing at what they did to me.

I expect not.