I'm a self employed Locksmith. The hardware stores and mass merchants do most of the key duplication. So, my business is more specialized. We have a lot of rental apartments and rental houses in the area. The owners have finally caught on to the convenience of having one Master Key that fits all their units, then the individual keys for the individual units. Since they carry a Master Key on them at all times, any time a prospective tenant wants to see a unit, the owner can go to that unit and show the unit, without having to go back to their office to get the key for that unit. Also, if a tenant locks him (her) self out, the owner can easily give them access.
I also do a lot of emergency car openings. People are constantly getting drunk and locking their keys in their vehicles. Sadly the economy in this area has gotten SO BAD in the past 6 or 7 years that I am doing a LOT of evictions and foreclosures. The policy in this area is that I am to go to the location, and if the tenant is there, we are to tell them that they are guilty of criminal trespass, and must leave. If they willingly leave, no charges will be filed against them. If they refuse to leave, we are required to restrain them and transport them to the police station, where the police will file the necessary charges. The police don't respond to normal evictions or foreclosures, unless there is a real danger to the property or myself and my employee. We are supposed to handle the situation ourselves, then transport the tenant to the police station.
We do a little bit of everything security related. The safe installations and evictions and foreclosures are my employees favorites. Those jobs pay VERY WELL. Each employee is paid a percentage of what the job pays, depending on their seniority with me, and their skill level. But because the safe jobs involve a LOT of physical strength, and because the evictions and foreclosures also involve a lot of physical strength, and frequently, a fair amount of danger, I charge much more for those jobs, so their pay is much higher.
Several of my guys wrestled in high school. A few wrestled and played football. All of them are incredibly muscular. Most are about 6'0", and weigh around 195 with VERY LITTLE body fat. Each of them enjoys wrestling, and occasionally fighting, so much that when we do an eviction or foreclosure and there isn't a man there, or if he is there, and he willingly leaves, that my "bodyguard" is disappointed he didn't get a chance to wrestle the guy down and handcuff him, or tie him up.
Four of my 9 bodyguards not only have a background as a high school wrestler, they have also taken some training in MMA fighting at our local MMA academy.
Although some of the guys have certain areas that they excel in, (car openings, motorcycles and ATV's, safe openings and installations), I want all of them to be able to pick locks, open cars, and re-key and master key locks. A few of them enjoy the challenge of picking locks, and are very good at it. 3 of them hate the challenge of picking locks, find it "boring" and really don't like learning, so we (2 of my stronger employees) and I found a very effective way of teaching the guys how to pick a lock. We lock a chain onto a tree, then lock the other end to their ankle. When they pick the lock, they go free. But, they stay chained to the tree until they do pick the lock, even if it takes them 5 hours. 5 hours is the maximum anyone was ever chained to the tree, and only because he didn't even try to pick the lock till he had been chained for 2 hours. As their skill improves at picking locks, we gradually put more and more secure locks on the chain. Now, all my guys are very skilled at lock picking. Might be a rather extreme way of teaching someone a skill, but it was very effective.
I hired most of the guys when they were in their early 20's and working at least part time, at another job. I can get very busy for weeks, then get rather slow for a couple weeks, so all of the guys work a part time job, in addition to working for me. Two of the less skilled guys work a full time job, since I can't use them as often, due to their lack of skill (and initiative). One of the guys I hired (Ed) was only 16 when I hired him. I knew the family, and knew that they were really struggling financially, so I wanted to use him as much as possible, in spite of his lack of skills, and his young age.
When it was slow, some of the guys would wrestle each other, then the winner would tie the loser. A few of the guys, would, on rare occasion, wrestle me, after asking my permission first, of course. But no one ever considering tying ME up. After all, I AM the "boss." The wrestling was usually just done for fun, and out of boredom on a slow day, and the loser was normally untied in ten to fifteen minutes. The reason (?) they justified the wrestling, then tying up their opponent, was that they wanted to always be ready to overpower and restrain the people we so often encountered on the evictions and foreclosures.
On occasion, a few of the guys would end up tied up a half hour or longer, out of friendly rivalry, or if one of the guys had dated the other guy's girlfriend, or if they had an MMA match coming up and the one guy wanted to intimidate the other guy in the hopes of beating him in the upcoming match. Ed was a high school wrestler, and actually did very well. But since he was only 16, and wrestled at 168, when the other guys were five years older, and thirty pounds heavier, he very rarely won a match.
During one of our rare slow periods when we'd had very few calls for over three weeks, which was very rare, one of the guys who only worked part time at his other job, decided that since he had worked for me for four years, and since we got along so well, he figured his job was pretty secure, so he wrestled ME down, and tied me up. My employees frequently wrestled each other down and tied each other up, but this was the first time any of my guys was brave (foolhardy?) enough to wrestle me and tie me up. He told me that he needed $40 for his car payment, and when I agreed to give it to him, he'd untie me. So, he pulled out 20' of cotton clothesline, and laid it on the ground. We're pretty evenly matched, so it was a tough match, but he eventually won. We were at my hunting camp, so I ended up hogtied on the ground, at my camp, in the middle of nowhere, with No Trespassing signs everywhere. I was somewhat upset, and insisted that he release me, but when an hour had passed and he showed no intention of untying me, I knew there was no way anyone would find me, so I agreed to give him the $40. Since I had already been tied up for over an hour, and realized that I could very easily stay tied up for another hour or longer, I told him that I wasn't "loaning" it to him, and subtracting it from his next check, I would "give" it to him.
There have been numerous occasions over the years when one of the guys was a little short on the funds necessary to pay a bill, and I would willingly loan them the money, then subtract it from their next pay. I've even had several guys ask for money for cigarettes, or for a thirty pack for a weekend of drinking, and I'd even loan them that money, and, of course, take that from their next pay. The typical loan didn't involve interest. The money for cigarettes or alcohol, I charged interest on. I try to discourage both of those nasty habits.
By this time, (six years after Ed first started working for me) Ed had worked at a very physical job for two years, and now weighed 198 and was one of the strongest guys I had working for me. Since he had been wrestling the other guys, (and me) since he was 16, and losing badly, when he started winning matches once in a while, he got even more motivated to workout, to do the heavier jobs at work, and to improve his wrestling skills. But since Ed had wrestled for three years in high school, he was a pretty accomplished wrestler. When he saw that I "willingly" "GAVE" Mike the $40, he decided he'd try that himself. So, since he was now 22, one of my stronger employees, and very skilled at wrestling, and at tying up, or handcuffing his opponent, I lost more matches than I won. So, he wrestled me down, hogtied me, and told me I had a choice, 2 hours hogtied, or a "gift" of $20. I didn't want to make it seem "too easy" for him, so I waited the two hours before I agreed to give him the $20. I honestly didn't know if he might keep me tied up for another hour or two or not, and we had a lot to do that day, so after already spending two hours hogtied on the shop floor, I agreed to the gift of the $20 so we could get busy on the various jobs we had scheduled that day.
Over the next few years, several of the guys moved out of the area to get better paying jobs. A few stayed with me part time, and worked full time jobs elsewhere. The business continued to grow, and I actually expanded my service area. Since the remaining employees had been with me for so many years, and I had invested so many hundreds of hours training them, I paid the guys very well, and increased their responsibilities whenever possible.
Ed and James continued to wrestle me from time to time and to tie me up when I lost. By now, I was no competition for either of them, and they won quickly and easily. But, thankfully, I was almost never tied up for more than an hour. However, Ed started tying me up several times a week. So, even though I was rarely tied up for more than an hour at a time, it wasn't unusual for me to be tied up for ten to twelve hours a week. Since we are such good friends, he'd pull out his paracord, wrestle me down, hogtie me (his preferred method of restraint), then sit and talk to me, while he was picking a lock, or master keying a lock, or changing the combination on a safe. So, I was hogtied, and NOT appreciating it, but he was getting the work done, and we were talking about how his week was going, and how the family was doing.
Since Ed was one of the guys who had no interest in learning how to pick locks when he was younger, he had spent MANY (hundreds?) hours chained to a tree. Now it's his turn. He doesn't chain me to a tree, but he does tie me up A LOT. A couple years ago, he decided that "JUST" wrestling me down, putting me in submission holds, then tying me up for an hour or so, just wasn't "enough." So, 27 months ago, he wrestled me down, put me in some rather uncomfortable submission holds, then hogtied me for a couple hours. He pulled a small box out of his hoodie pocket and told me I had a choice. I could agree to wear what he had in the box, or I could stay hogtied a few more hours. Since he had never kept me tied up longer than one hour, prior to this occasion, I hesitated, figuring he'd let me out shortly.
Being hogtied for ten minutes up to an hour, or being tied to a chair for two hours is one thing. Laying on a cold concrete floor in a perfectly executed hogtie, being completely unable to move is a different matter altogether. By that time, I had been tied up quite a few times by various employees. Normally, they'd use the normal cotton clothesline, and have me tied up ten or fifteen minutes. Once in a while one of the guys was in a mood to "mess with me," or he had a financial need, and would have me hogtied for an hour. Granted, I could probably tough it out, and refuse to give them the money they were asking for, and see if they were actually willing to keep me tied up longer than that hour. But laying on a cold concrete floor, unable to move, seems a lot longer than an hour, when you're experiencing it. Besides, even though I might have some slack times in the business, I was so involved in other pursuits, and in community affairs, I was ALWAYS on the go. One day my neighbor asked me if I was planning on getting out of my car that day. I had pulled into the driveway 7 times, then backed out and left again, without even opening my car door. My phone was ALWAYS ringing. For over ten years I AVERAGED 87,000 miles a year on my cars, and I have NEVER worked less than 70 hours a week.
So, since I'm always so busy, even being tied up for an hour, was a HUGE imposition on my schedule. I had a lot to do this day, and had already missed two appointments because of Ed's hogtie. So, after being hogtied for six hours, four hours longer than I had EVER been hogtied by anyone, I agreed to wear whatever it was he had in that little box. Turns out it was a bio-resin cock cage, Since it's bio-resin and not metal, metal detectors don't find it.
Since I had already missed two appointments, and had two very profitable appointments coming up within the next two hours, I didn't want to take the chance, that he'd keep me tied up even longer, if I refused to do what he was demanding. So, I agreed to wear the cage, figuring he'd think it was funny or cool, and I'd be released in a week or two. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Ed loves the control he has over me. I own and run the business, but he controls me. I have repeatedly asked, and on numerous occasions, DEMANDED that he release me, BUT...it looks as though I might be wearing this thing for quite a while. He loves the control he has over me. He thinks it's pretty awesome that he can demand to go on service calls that I wouldn't normally send him on, and he loves the fact that the two most highly skilled guys get 35% of what the job pays. The rest of the guys get 25% of what the job pays. And Ed gets 40% of what the job pays. Thankfully, no one knows this, or I'd probably have to adjust their pay rates also. They can't lock me in a cock cage, but they could very definitely tie me up a LOT for a very long period of time, till I agreed to increase their pay rate. James not only got his increase from 30% to 35% because of his skill and seniority, but also because he had taken me out in the woods at my hunting camp, wrestled me down, then tied me spread eagle between four trees for a couple hours. So, pay increases for my other employees is a definite possibility if they find out what Ed has done to me, and how much I pay him, or how James got his pay rate increase.
I haven't come close to getting Ed into a hold, let alone win a match with him, in years, but he told me, he'll let me out of the cage, when I can wrestle him down, lock him in a submission hold for a half hour, then hogtie him for an hour. Obviously that isn't possible. So there is no way I can "free" myself. He also wrote out a paper and signed it, that says that if he releases me within 5 years from the date he locked me in the cage, he has to give me $500. There is no way that man is going to lose a "prisoner," give up the control he has over me, end the fun he is having knowing what he has done to me, AND give me $500. So, he still works for me. He's still one of my better workers. And his family continues to have financial problems due to the disabilities of his father and brother, and their continued medical expenses. And, of course, after working for me for so many years, he's also my best friend.
But I am now, and will be for at least three more years, his prisoner. Sure would be nice to have a few days (weeks?) out of this thing, but I gave up on that idea several months ago. In all honesty, when December 31, 2019 gets here, and I get released from the cage, it wouldn't surprise me at all if I get released for a day or two, then get locked in it again for another five years.