Reply to s/o - do you let your kids eat in the grocery store before you pay?

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Reply to "s/o - do you let your kids eat in the grocery store before you pay?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We can argue about this until we are blue in the face and still not agree.  Personally, intent does not matter to me.  You consumed that product before you purchased it.  Thus at the time of consumption, the item did not belong to you.  Folks can spin it however they like.  That’s the factual bottom line.  Intent is a nuance. [/quote]

No it's not. The factual bottom line is all about intent if we're talking about the law here. It's not about spinning, it's about reading a statute. End of story. If we're talking about what is right or wrong in a larger sense, than we have something to argue about. Just because intent does not matter to YOU doesn't mean you get to make up the law. It is what it is. [/quote]

You cannot make up the law either.  My point about intent being a nuance is that at the time you consume the item, you are the only person who KNOWS your intent.  It is not clearly apparent to anyone else in the store.  Your statement of intent may not matter to an officer detaining you, but it will factor into you being prosecuted for the crime. [/quote]

OK, but nobody ever knows your intent unless you announce it. The law is not based on anyone knowing your intent, but on the intent itself. If the store has good reason to think that you DON'T intend to pay for something, then yes they can detain you. But the point is that in most cases they don't make this calculation because they know that most people do intend to pay and do pay. Sure you technically can be detained for this, I guess, but that doesn't mean you did anything wrong. [/quote]

I guess I should start shopping where the rest of you shop.  At the Safeway where I shop, they will say something to you (a not so subtle reminder to pay for the item you are eating) and they may remind the cashier about it later when you get in line.  Matter of fact, I saw them "detain" a teenager for eating an orange in the store when the the bag of oranges was in his carry-bakset. Maybe they "profiled" him.  [/quote]

And that's why I wouldn't want to shop at that Safeway. If they are assuming that people openly eating in a store are going to steal, are reminding you to pay, and then again monitoring you when you are at the checkout, it can't be a very comfortable place to shop. Then again if the store has a big problem with shoplifting, I can understand their paranoia. In that case maybe they should put up a sign that asks people not to eat anything before paying at the cash register. I would think most people would comply if it were made an explicit rule by the store.

I used to go to a market for their great cheese and olives. The owner would follow customers around the store, suspicious that they might steal. He had no reason to think so, he was just an eccentric kind of guy. After a while I got sick of him tailing me and stopped going. And no, I never ate anything before I bought it. He probably would have called the FBI if anyone did that. Sadly, the teenager probably was profiled. [/quote]

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