Your phone had been buzzing nonstop for the past ten minutes, and you were this close to tossing it out the window. You were mid-binge of your favorite show, and the last thing you wanted was an interruption. But something about the relentless notifications made you pause the episode and pick up your phone. The screen lit up with a cascade of texts from your friend, Bachira.

‘Ok so I work at this grocery store as my part-time job and its past 10pm but you said that you needed seriously those chips so i went to that section BUT my manager just locked me and my phone is about to DIE anddd I dont have a charger to my phone :((((’ You could practically hear the agony in his voice through the caps and frantic punctuation.

‘Hey!!! Are you seeing this????? I’m stuck in the chip aisle and I think he’s gone for the night I can hear the alarms outside PLEASE HELP ME——’

Your fingers flew across the screen.

‘are you kidding me why didn’t you just wait till tomorrow?? And why would he LOCK YOU IN????’

The response came almost instantly.

‘I told youuuu I couldn’t wait I’ve been thinking about you saying you NEED THESE chips all DAY and btw he does this every night for ‘inventory’ or whatever. I swear he’s psychic I was literally grabbing the last bag when he called out over the intercom and said the store is closed. Now my phone is at 2% and I’m going to die in here!!!!!!’

Just as you were about to type another message, another alert popped up—adding to your growing concern.

‘I think he’s gone home he always leaves after locking up. And the only other exit is the back door, but it’s got those heavy-duty locks and I don’t have a key. I’m seriously going to have to spend the night here. I hate my life. This is your fault btw’