By Doug Black

Some recent shoplifters are using tactics more common in a high school classroom. One such bank robber nonchalantly passed a note to an East Village teller. Amidst the presumed declarations of adoration, there were explicit orders for the teller to empty her till and fork over the dough. She followed suit and the man escaped with a handsome payload, if not a hot date.

And a Brooklyn man used the very same technique on the very same day at an electronics store in Flatbush. He presented a handwritten note to the RadioShack employee working the register. The message claimed that he had a gun—though one was never produced—and demanded cash. He complied with the letter and the man left with a sack full of money, although it’s unclear whether the cashier liked him liked him, or just liked him.