shop lifting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if it was food or hygienic products i wouldn't care.

fancy clothes/jewelry i'd call management.

Stealing is stealing no matter the item. I saw something similar and I just told one of the clerks what I had seen and she called the manager. Shoplifting is a crime and cost merchants millions of dollars every year.

whatever. I'd ask the person if they needed me to pay for it if you're so concerned about giants' losses. the person stealing a bottle of cheap shower gel must be in real need. being sent to jail won't help.

I doubt very much it is actual need in many neighborhoods. How about kleptomania. Nevertheless, consumer prices are increased because of shoplifting. I was brought up on the premise that there are no degrees of honesty and this is what I have taught my children. If you want to teach you children that circumstances make it all right to steal then do so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I had grand jury duty a few years ago, we refused to have a case move ahead against a woman who'd paid for groceries at Safeway with bad checks. No one wanted to punish her for feeding her children. She had four or five. They even had a representative come in from Safeway to convince us. They brought in and read aloud from whatever law book so that we could hear the law that she broke. We just didn't care.

I wonder how much you would have cared if she had given you a bad check. She committed a felony and she should, at least, have received probation and community service. The only thing she learned from you is that it is all right to keep stealing and writing bad checks. You did not do her a favor because she probably kept doing this and was convicted the next time and sentenced to some serious jai/prison time and her children were probably sent to foster care.

[Anonymous]

Nobody felt comfortable punishing a woman for finding a way to feed her children.

And, since we're imagining scenarios: Maybe we saw her through a truly rough patch after which she was able to find steady employment and all of her children grew up to be scientists and Peace Corps volunteers.

Happy Thanksgiving, bitter, bitter 20:22!

BTW it was not a felony, it was petit larceny (a misdemeanor).

[Anonymous]

One of my high school friends stole food from grocery stores all the time. This was right after high school, her parents were divorced and she was living with her dad and abusive (verbally and emotionally) step-mother. She hopped a freight train from Colorado to Florida and only ate what she could steal.

Point is, you don't know a person's situation and although I am inclined to agree that stealing is stealing and it's wrong. I also think that if someone is stealing food or soap/shampoo/toothbrush/toothpaste, then they must be pretty desperate.

[Anonymous]

What about food stamps or food banks? Lots of folks go that route instead.

[Anonymous]

16:42 That's jury nullification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody felt comfortable punishing a woman for finding a way to feed her children.

And, since we're imagining scenarios: Maybe we saw her through a truly rough patch after which she was able to find steady employment and all of her children grew up to be scientists and Peace Corps volunteers.

Happy Thanksgiving, bitter, bitter 20:22!

BTW it was not a felony, it was petit larceny (a misdemeanor).

You call me bitter because I don't condone stealing? Your values are skewed. 21:21 is right, what about food stamps or food banks? My church has a food bank and you don't have to be a member nor do you have to be a member of any church to receive food. There is no way you can justify writing bad checks or stealing. Next, you will say it is all right to murder because she was just trying to feed her kids. Get real.

Did you send her a gift card for Safeway or any other grocery store so she could feed her children? I bet not.

[Anonymous]

Maybe her distribution from the food bank was gone.

Maybe there is no food bank close by.

Maybe she's got no bus money to get to a charity organization.

Maybe her husband or boyfriend just drank or drugged up his whole paycheck.

Any mother would steal to feed her kids if that was the only way. Of course it's horrible. But maybe you'd prefer she prostitute herself out for food money instead? That way no corporation gets hurt.

[Anonymous]

I might do this if I don't want to bother with getting a shopping basket. Plus, I don't like to get plastic bags, so sometimes I'll shop with my backpack, put things in there as I browse, and then unpack the backpack at the checkout counter.

[Anonymous]

One has to register for food stamps and at most food banks. Besides time, there are other obstacles to enrollment. You have to be able to show (at a minimum) proof of residence and proof of income. If you don't have a utility bill with your name on it, a pay stub from the last three-week period, and/or a copy of a signed and dated lease, you're generally SOL.

Compassion, bitter, bitter, 20:22. Tis the season, you angry lil poster.

[Anonymous]

Do you have to register or show proof of residency or income for a soup kitchen? Don't you just get in line or are there other obstacles for getting a meal?

[Anonymous]

22:28-No one is saying that stealing is wrong. I think that some of the PPs are just trying to think outside the box a little bit and attempting to put themselves in another person's shoes. I also get your point that shoplifting costs us all money. However, I kind of doubt that putting the kibosh on the great shower gel heist is suddenly going to end stealing all over the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:28-No one is saying that stealing is wrong. I think that some of the PPs are just trying to think outside the box a little bit and attempting to put themselves in another person's shoes. I also get your point that shoplifting costs us all money. However, I kind of doubt that putting the kibosh on the great shower gel heist is suddenly going to end stealing all over the country.

Meant to say stealing [i]isn't wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I might do this if I don't want to bother with getting a shopping basket. Plus, I don't like to get plastic bags, so sometimes I'll shop with my backpack, put things in there as I browse, and then unpack the backpack at the checkout counter.

I've done this as well, but in general it's with a regular shopping bag. I especially do it if I'm on foot. It makes it easier for me to know when I've got more than I can carry.

I've read that most people don't steal out of desperation but out of boredom. I think it was in a psychology class that I read that. Most thieves are middle aged white mothers who are in it for the thrill.

One thing that bugs me about "she was just trying to feed her kids" mentality is half the time those women are feeding their kids crap. I used to work for a bank and more than once had a customer call and complain about their check card not working because the account was overdrawn. Then they'd start screaming that they're at Dominoes and "just trying to feed my kids." Well ma'am, I'd have a lot more sympathy (but still couldn't help you) if you were trying to feed your kids milk and beans and rice or something with some nutritional value vs. calorie laden junk food. It's the mentality of "you owe me because I had all these kids I can't take care of" that bugs me. I totally understand that regular responsible people have bad things happen to them and need help, but they generally aren't the ones running around stealing and yelling at bank employees for not allowing them to continue over-drafting their account. Instead they're out trying to fix the situation by signing up for programs, finding a job...any job...etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:22:28-No one is saying that stealing is wrong. I think that some of the PPs are just trying to think outside the box a little bit and attempting to put themselves in another person's shoes. I also get your point that shoplifting costs us all money. However, I kind of doubt that putting the kibosh on the great shower gel heist is suddenly going to end stealing all over the country.

New poster here. Let me just point out that stealing is illegal and wrong. Now DCUM, shouldn't you jump on my bandwagon and say "yes, it is wrong and dangerous." When did the compassion police come out to play? They are so rarely seen around here. I never thought so many people would condone stealing on this board. Who knows what else they might secretly condone. Assisted suicide? Semi-violent fur "painting" protests? Calling the police on the next door neighbors for allowing underage drinking?

Every time I think I have DCUM figured out, it throws me for a loop. Personally, I think all shoplifting is wrong. If you need to feed your kids, that is your prerogative but I still think it is wrong. I don't know if I would do the same in a similar situation but I certainly wouldn't stand idly by while someone else shoplifted. I need to set an example for my children and I want them to understand the gravity of being a law abiding citizen.

And, seriously, stealing Dove body wash is not the same as a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. I don't care what you say, it doesn't sound like the woman was desperate to feed her children.