On several occasions I have noticed people letting things disappear in their pockets in the supermarket. I have also observed how some manage to cheat at the self-check out. It has never occurred to me to report them, as I don't know how desperate their situations might be. In the end I will always support humans and not corporations. These people did not look like criminals to me but rather like ordinary folks who are a bit short of cash at the end of the month. Considering how much food gets thrown away and destroyed, I think stealing food and other necessities isn't the worst offense.
I've never seen anyone steal at a market. It would seem impossible to get away with, with cameras everywhere. Whether it's morally right or I not I don't know. Seeing someone steal food probably wouldn't bother me but it would make me nervous and sad.
I personally would not do anything if I saw someone stealing in a Supermarket as its none of my business, that's what security guards are there for. @ Dora M, I understand your point and agree with it to a certain extent, it is sad that people have to resort to that because times are hard, I totally understand and I sympathise. But in terms of your point about the people in question not looking like criminals and like ordinary folk. I have to disagree and ask in your opinion, what does a criminal look like? Looks can be deceiving and I don't think you can decipher a persons intent or whether they are a criminal or not based on how they look. How do you feel about drug addicts and alcoholics shoplifting to fund their habits? Just wondering as this is something that often occurs in my area. Shouldn't stealing be wrong regardless of who is doing it, even if necessary? I also agree a lot of food goes to waste, having worked in retail this is something I have queried and the reason that they don't give it away and let it all go to waste. Homeless people suing for food poisoning from food going out of date is a big factor in why a lot of establishments would rather see food go to waste. It only takes a few to ruin it for many unfortunately.
That reminds me of an episode of "What would you do?" that I just watched recently. They showed elderly people stealing and the largest percentage of people didn't tell on the senior citizens, but there were a few who did. I feel the same way that a lot of you do in that I just wouldn't be able to snitch on anyone, especially a senior citizen.
I see people "stealing" at our local super walmart all the time. These people are eating the food while shopping or letting their kids eat it. In the world of loss prevention, it's called "grazing". It's just as illegal as stealing it outright. You see parents just letting their kids eat cookies right from the package in the store. It also reminds of a convenience store I was in once on vacation that had stickers plastered all over the refrigerators that said, "YOU, please PAY for beverage before drinking."
I don't see people stealing but I do see people grazing in the produce aisle or in the bulk bins. I dislike this as I think it is unsanitary and a completely rude. I would report it if someone was pocketing food because theft increases the cost to all those who pay. I did twice see a woman try to walk off with a bag of someone else's groceries. It was the same woman both times and she deliberately dawdles when the cashier is serving the next customer before she "mistakenly" grabs one the next shoppers bags. I haven't seen anyone cheating at the self checkout, but it has occurred to me that people would take advantage of it. Theft directly costs the stored but they pass those costs onto the consumers. If you want to keep your grocery bill low, report the thieves.
I did steal one item in a super market once, well, it's not that big of an item, it's a KitKat bar, and I did it by accident. I was shopping for snacks then I picked one up and instinctively I ate it and threw the rapper in my pocket, when I got out of the store only then I realized that I didn't pay for that one. But regardless, stealing a few items of minimal value maybe isn't that bad, but if you're going to do it often then I guess its not the best of intentions, I mean, for one the employees might be the one to suffer.
I would not encourage them to steal but if you see one just let them do it. Sometimes may be the person is starving and has no money to buy food. But all in all it should not be encouraged because the store owner needs also to make money and stealing from the store does not help them do that. People should work hard for their money.
Thank you, sarz, for giving my post a lot of thought. You are right, what does a typical criminal look like? I used this phrase without much thinking. I guess I associate a "typical criminal" with somebody who feels "greasy" or "greedy" to me, if that makes any sense. It's only my personal judgement. You could then ask me, whether a person who feels more likeable and needy to me, is less of a criminal. Of course, a thief remains a thief. My personal, and perhaps controversial, opinion is that I regard stealing from corporate supermarket chains a small evil in comparison to what corporations steal every day from their consumers. For one thing, corporations have wiped out most of the small greengrocers and independent shops that still offered quality produce. Corporations have taken over everything and rule the consumer market. Here where I live, in Australia, there are very few places in the cities where you can actually buy quality fresh produce. You are forced to buy chemically compromised, artificially ripened, GMO infected and irradiated "vegetable and fruit products" that don't taste or behave like the fresh food that you get from independent farmers. And that's just one example. Perhaps I am getting a little off-topic here, but my thoughts on this matter are expansive. To answer your question about whether stealing is wrong, regardless of who is doing it, and whether it is necessary or not, I have to say that for me it all depends on the situation. Does that make me a criminal as well? Perhaps. As for food going to waste, I meant the tons of vegetables and fruit that get thrown away before they even hit the market. I haven't really heard of homeless people suing for food poisoning. I know ordinary people here who buy products that are out of date for a couple of days and it hasn't harmed them. The expiry date on any product usually says "best before" a certain date. So that generally means that it can be safely consumed for a while afterwards. I think most people have the common sense not to ingest anything that smells or tastes bad.
Reading this thread reminds me of my childhood days in which I went to the supermaket (once or twice, don't get me wrong!!) trying to steal chewing gum or similar lol, at the time I still had no notion of what's right or wrong... I don't know what I would do if I saw someone doing that, probably nothing because as you said, it's none of my business. On the other hand, I think instincts would determine what I would do.
I've used a self service checkout once and then when I got home found that an item didn't scan and nothing happened. I know they are staffed for security purposes but It must be very easy to get away with. If you can steal unintentionally so easily it must be a walk in the park to do it when you know what you're doing.
I've seen a couple people trying to steal from supermarkets- from eating fruit that's being sold to actually taking and hiding items underneath their clothing. However, alot of them end up getting caught because they were to blind to realize that cameras are everywhere and that shop assistants can quite clearly see them while they're doing these things.
I've never stolen anything from a supermarket but sometimes I realize how easy it would be to do and it really surprises me, stores need to have more security in place to avoid these possibilities. For example, what's to stop me from getting seedless grapes and just marking them as seeded grapes? They look the same but cost less than half of what the seedless ones cost. It's not like the cashier is going to eat one to see if it has any seeds.
It's reasons like that why some stores are going the opposite way and getting rid of self checkout lanes:Log In
I've never seen it and I've never done it myself, but I do have a friend who admitted to doing it. He'd been unemployed for 6 months, his unemployment check still hadn't come, and he seriously had no food at all. He stole a bag of rice and lived off it for the next week. He was SO embarrassed by it, but didn't really know what else to do. The food pantry was closed already and he'd already skipped food since the day before.
I'm a cashier for a retail giant and you wouldn't believe half the stuff people do and try to get by with. The self check outs are an easy way out if they are run by just one cashier. One cashier can't keep tabs on 9 little registers when they are all going off and needing key turns and the such. The self checks area could be more controlled only if the management of the store would have 2 cashiers AND kept all orders under 50 items. I've also witnessed people going through regular checkouts with big bulk items that they've put another products code on the item so they get the item for alot less. An example is some person put a Hi-C kook-aid sticker on a $100 vacuum box. They did not get the item for the kook-aid price. Like I said, you see a lot of things when you're a cashier.
It depends on what someone is stealing. If you are stealing candy, electronics, make up, or anything of that nature, I feel you really are not in need. You may be broke enough to not be able to buy it, but you don't need it. I've pointed these people out to store workers, because that is just ridiculous. However, if I see someone stealing an apple, a can of meat, a bottle of water, you know, real foods, I turn the other cheek. But I don't like stealing, the only reason I make an exception for the food is because I know what it is like to be starving and I'd rather someone else not starve. But I have limits on that too, if I see they're stealing a 6 course meal in their drawers I won't turn the other cheek.
I haven't seen anyone do it in person, but I have some friends who do it way back in high school and they brag about it. They mostly steal neon and glittered colored pens and nail polishes based from what they tell me and what I saw, but I'm sure they steal anything and everything they can put their hands on. I won't really report someone if I saw them stealing, since I figured they don't steal from another person anyway, they steal from large, multi-million corporations, so their profit definitely can compensate for their losses.
I haven't noticed anyone stealing at the supermarket, but I don't think I would report food theft because I don't know what that person's reasons are for stealing food. I have no idea what is causing them to steal food and I don't want to add to their problems. Anyone could lose a job and have no one to turn to and make a desperate decision to steal food.
