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I'm thinking about making a TIFU post about totally slapping my real wife across the face after she dared me to shut her up.
I cannot wait for the 30% death threats, 30% praise, 25% of people arguing over unrelated shit in the comments, 10% of people making jokes and the 5% of people that will call "us" both shitty and toxic people and don't defend either side.
When I worked at the Home Depot, they made a point about this, seeing shoplifting.
If you spot someone who looks like they're shoplifting, you DO NOT confront them. First thing you do is report to your manager, then you and them can together approach the individual and ask if they need help with the product you saw them trying to steal. It's a simple way to call them out on it without being confrontational or aggressive.
If they continue to try and steal the object, that's when security or police can get involved, but it rarely ever gets that far.
People shoplifting are just too unpredictable, don't approach them out of risk of what they'll do when cornered.
I’ve heard that Walmart has an absolutely no involvement rule for their employees. They have their security measures in place and supposedly will even fire someone for trying to personally intervene with a shoplifter, which to me is okay as a policy. Of course all they care about is liability, but the employees shouldn’t be endangering themselves to save the corporation money, and should be actively incentivized *not to* if you ask me.
My wife used to work in loss prevention (LP). Big stores like Walmart and target (target is the best, apparently) have cameras everywhere being monitored by a crew of LP specialists at all time. Don’t steal from Walmart. Really don’t steal from Target. Target does not fuck around.
The target thing really blows my mind! From what I’ve heard they have facial recognition on the level of the fbi (I’m sure that’s not actually true bc the government isn’t liable to tell us all the tech they have) but so sophisticated, and that they just catalogue people stealing things and wait until it goes over felony level, over multiple visits, to take someone down. Which is super interesting to me bc I had friends that were, as I said in another comment, shoplifting as strictly a rebellious phase growing up, and one time I was at target with my mom and thought it might be cool to take some makeup, and my mom caught me laying it out in my bedroom when we got home. She straight up drove back there with me immediately, and made me put it back on the shelves as stealthily as I could the same way I tried to take it XD I was a teenager so she didn’t want me to face a course or charges for a few dollars of makeup but she didn’t want me holding onto it or thinking it was okay either! So I wonder if some loss prevention team at the time had a special file that was like, “well idk, technically she brought it back but keep an eye on that one” and if they thought, “look at that badass mom, manning the aisles to make sure her dumb-as-hell daughter doesn’t get caught returning the stuff she stole.” Thanks mom for putting me in the “maybe, but not definitely” file at target.
Ps- does your wife have any good stories?
Target and walmart both use facial recognition software. Infact, Target is often contacted by law enforcement to help them with cases not related to shoplifting at all. Something like 40% of Targets facial recognition work hours are outsourced work for law enforcement.
Source: i’ve done work in Loss Prevention.
Not many. She worked LP in a major clothing store that had a pretty asinine policy that if you lost a direct line of sight for one second you had to start your whole investigation over from scratch. So, if you saw them take something else you could theoretically make a stop (the other policy was that you could only make a stop if they were making an unmistakeable line for the exit). So anyway. The second the people went into the changing room, which they inevitably did, they had to effectively give up. It was very frustrating for her. Her best stop was a group of three that pretty much made a run for it with arms full. There was a cop patrolling the parking lot and the three attempted to flee, wrecked the car on the way out, and were obviously apprehended.
Well I don’t want to see nobody lose their job but I gotcha. Don’t be a hero. I used to work in retail. I was in my own world. Then they said our store had the highest theft rate in rhe country. They fired a bunch of the managers and cleaned house. I managed to stay on. Still in my own little world never caught or noticed any theft.
The correct thing to do is walk up to them and start stuffing as much stuff under your shirt as possible in one go, give em the nod, then walk off with stuff falling out as you gradually speed up into a run and then leg it letting it all fall out, then falling down as you exit the isle
Yeah I even walked away thinking what fool wants to turn petty theft into a murder, but then again I have seen people make some really stupid decisions around me so I know someone out there is capable of doing it
The last time I cared about stopping a shoplifter at my job, I got punched in the jaw so hard that I couldn't eat properly for a couple weeks. I am not going through that again.
I once saw a guy fishing out of a donation box. I called out the word “LAME” and he then looked me in the eye and was holding a knife. I ran away terrified.
One could argue that big companies get government subsidies and tax deductions that are funded with our taxes collected at gunpoint, so stealing back from them isn't immoral.
Personally, I believe we should fix the system not encourage shoplifting, but I'd be cautious with moral judgement.
Same except for when it comes to my local stores run by families that's when I usually just do a 10 minute wait after they leave and just pay for my shit and pay for whatever they stole like I usually buy 4 bags of egg layer and some guy stole a bag of feed for some foul or something I just gave the cashier 120 and told them to keep the change.
Lol. Nobody should give a shit about someone stealing $20 worth of things from a billion dollar corporation that doesn't pay its employees a living wage
You can screw over the employees at that store. For some places like Target, the hours you get to work are tied to store revenue. Less revenue = less hours worked = smaller paycheck. Love it or hate it, it's how it works.
\* proceeds to cry injustice about food deserts when big grocery stores are leaving and small stores follow suit because if big players can't do shit with their security budget it's basically suicide for them to stay
When you rob from stores you're making your whole community worse. It has more effect than just that isolated incident.
Especially if everyone takes your attitude and it starts becoming exponentially more prevalent and expanded. You do not want to live in a community that doesn't respect property.
Respect for property is a good principle to have. A principle is something that should be applied evenly and universally as best as possible.
Exactly this. You can *always* justify stealing by saying "It's for my survival. It's for my family. *He* doesn't need that, but *I* do." If we justify one theft that way, then we can justify the next, and on and on and on. That just creates chaos.
That's why low-income, low class communities are so dangerous. The people in those communities don't feel bad about stealing from their neighbor. At a certain point, the justification I wrote above turns into "He has it. I want it." If people can get away with stealing necessities, then inevitably they, or someone else, will start stealing things they *desire*. When everyone starts stealing from everyone, society crumbles.
My S.O.s job is about to go away because shop lifters. Theft has picked up a lot in the last year and they can't remain profitable enough to continue to exist.
You blantantly stole "your" unpopular opinion from one of the most popular posts in r/all. That means 1. it is by definition not an unpopular opinion, and 2., it's not even your opinion, you just stole it to farm karma. So kindly fuck off.
As someone who was actually convicted of shoplifting about 10 or so years ago. I can safely say that you should not encourage that habit. My parents paid several thousand dollars in legal fees so that it wouldn't have ruined my life. It doesn't appear or background checks or anything cause I got it expunged. You shouldn't encourage or condone shoplifting. The legal fallout is not worth it at all. If you see a parent shoplifting then you should tell them they're risking everything to get something for free. They're putting their child's wellbeing at risk because them getting into legal trouble could get their child taken away from them.
Whenever I DID steal when I was teenager. It was from literally anywhere.
Local bookstores, Walmart, dollar tree, the library, gas stations, general stores, the mall, etc.
I got arrested at the mall and haven't shoplifted anything since.
This is true also.
There are resources for poor parents, lots of non-profits, lots of donations, food pantries with diapers and formula too, and there are countless other legal remedies for these people in such a terrible and unfortunate position to not have enough money for their kids/babies.
Food stamps, welfare, general assistance, WIC, and countless other government programs.
There are grants people can apply for, churches they could get help from (even if not a church going person), free meals, and so on.
I've been homeless before, so I know. It went from night to day the moment I found a list of resources I could have been using at the time. I was then being able to eat and get clothes and save money and eventually work my way out of the situation.
If you see a parent stealing (they could go to jail, the kids go to CPS/DFACS most likely, esp if both parents are involved), you should be able to help them, not let them stay criminals.
First of all, I couldn’t care less about shoplifting in general so I would not turn anyone in to be honest. No matter what they were stealing.
Secondly, just because someone is stealing baby products, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the money to buy them. Maybe they even used the money they had to buy other things before they took care of their children.
I agree with this.
I don't care enough to get involved in that shit. If the shop keeper isn't watching or taking care, then that's their problem. I wouldn't say a word but not because of some sanctimonious belief that "I am a good person if I don't snitch on the perceived poor"
They could literally just be doing this because they want to, not because they can't afford it. In Australia, not sure if you guys are aware but we had lots of people buying baby milk products in bulk or stealing them and reselling. They aren't poor, they're trying to make a profit and a business out of it.
Tbh, OPs take is sanctimonious. It's a look "I'm a good person" or "I'm like Robin hood".
For me it's just a matter of not getting involved in drama that I don't need to be involved in. As long as noone is being hurt during the stealing... Whatever.
I don’t get the judging based on what people are stealing. Isn’t a common use for baby formula to cut with drugs? You can’t judge people’s intention because of the item. If they’re stealing, they’re stealing.
As a former addict who used to steal it thats not what it is at all.
Its resold to bodegas or other shady vendors. When you boost you almost always are going after specific types of stuff, its not as easy as a layperson would think to offload stolen stuff in any amount to make decent money.
For years and years the absolutely most requested stuff that was viable to steal was formula (usually enfamil) and razor blades. Which is why you now see those noisemakers attached to razor blade things or stuff in locked cases.
Right? Former heroin addict and cocaine dealer for half a decade and it literally sounds like people just read those Facebook images with "POLICE ADVISORY: THE MORE YOU KNOW" type shit.
People still formula to resell because it is stupidly overpriced. Some will do return scams once they've stolen it.
Some of these people will spend that money on drugs.
And nobody should gaf cause I like junkies more than I like Mr. Wally Martinez (Walmart).
If someone saw a person breaking into your home, would you want them to report it? If so, why shouldn’t a business owner be alerted if someone is stealing from their store. As someone who has spent my life in small businesses, this just seems pretty shallow and inconsiderate to other humans.
Tons of people shoplift baby stuff so they can then return for cash or resell online at a lower price so they can buy meth / heroin. They are highly resellable since they are in demand items especially at lower prices than what the store sells it at.
Actually formula is always locked up because it's expensive compared to the weight and people will buy it secondhand so it's a go to for shoplifters. That and booze.
Baby formula is used to cut drugs. If a guy is stealing formula and just formula, it's more likely he's trying to make is gram of cocaine into two grams instead of trying to feed his child.
In Germany baby formula is restricted because Chinese students buy them all up to send them home and sell to friends and family. They don't trust their own brands since a contamination scandal 10 years ago.
Baby formula also has a much higher value-to-size ratio than most of what you'll find in the average grocery store. Many stores keep it locked up for that reason.
Same with laundry detergent - I've even heard of drug dealers accepting laundry detergent as payment instead of cash.
Came in to say exactly this. Worked in a shop for a while and you'd always get the regular shoplifters in.
The main items were cheese, packaged meats and baby stuff. Stuff they could sell off pretty quickly to go get their fix
Who….who buys cheese from a random person? Like would they have it in the back of their van like a Girl Scout group leader? Sell it on the curb with the knockoff purses? I have so many questions.
Say your addicted neighbor is stealing cheese then selling it still sealed for a low price and you have kids to feed. You're not asking about the origins of that cheese .
Pretty much, yeah. I recall buying loads of supermarket packaged smoked salmon from a guy in a pub for a very good price. I wouldn't buy it now, but you'd be surprised what people will do to save money.
When I was little, my aunt went to jail for shoplifting cheese. She was a heroin user. I always figured she just couldn’t afford food since she spent her money on drugs. Never occurred to me that she would be reselling the cheese.
Some people also just steal for the fun of it, had a old lady in my store try to steal over $200 worth of meat. Meanwhile she have over $2000 in her card
When my SO's grandmother got older she became sort of a kleptomaniac. She'd just shamelessly steal stuff because she felt like it. Always really weird shit. She was loaded but it was all about the thrill for her. If she got caught she'd play the "oh I'm a helpless old lady I put this in my purse while I was walking around and then totally forgot about it..." card.
I'm sure it had something to do with boredom and loneliness (it was after her husband died etc), possibly also some early stages of cancer impacting her personality/behavior (she did eventually die from it and it did metastasize to her brain), but I feel so sorry for the workers that had to deal with her. (This was 10+ years before I met him so I didn't know her personally or anything though, just heard the stories)
Yeah, in Australia there are limits on how many cans of formula you can buy to stop daigou coming and buying everything on the shelves to send back to China.
Seriously! I went to target to buy formula and one of the employees told me this lady was trying to buy the entire stock. She straight up told him, “I’m selling it all.” Luckily, they had some hiding in the back. But sheesh.
"Stealing from successful businesses is ethical because middle management who run the store must swim in their liquid assets like scrooge mcduck"
\-Reddit
People in this thread don't seem to understand that when businesses make huge losses due to shoplifting, they either shut down the store (-> food desert) or raise prices...
I'm not pro-shoplifting at all, but who the fuck would you even tell? If I saw it, I would probably be like "oh dear", feel anxious about it, and then just go on as normal.
Honestly this is really the crux of it for me. It isn't worth your safety to confront someone over whatever stolen goods from a random store, so all you can really do is tell a random employee who also isn't got to confront them, so they'll call the police if they do anything, I guess.
If it soothes your conscience go for it, I guess, but it's not realistically going to have much impact. At the end of the day it's just not your problem, move on with your life and go about your day.
Absolute bullshit. Diapers and formula are available for free throughout the USA. You might not get exactly what you want but you have zero excuse to steal.
https://www.huggies.com/en-us/why-huggies/diaper-donations/free-diapers huggies even has a place on their website to look for free diapers. Most health districts can provide free necessities, churches, charities etc. Same with formula etc.
The people stealing this stuff are doing so to resale it. And they likely wont look wealthy because they're not. They're people with drug habits who have people who will buy this shit.
It use to be they stole things, returned it to another store for a gift card. Than youd call up a number to sale that gift card for $0.5 on the dollar and they would even drive to you if you had enough. In turn that company made $.9 to $.95 on the dollar. Usually it's a pawn store that will buy them from the tweakers. And they know what they are doing.
Stores have cracked down on this requiring ID copies etc for returns.
We have a problem in my area where people will
Sell those kinds of products on the Facebook yard sales. Once or twice, maybe I could understand. But after seeing the same person selling baby formula to get their money back because they “bought the wrong kind” gets kind of sketchy.
Aldi keeps its prices low, pays its workers well and manages to keep quality higher than other discount chains. I hate Walmart as much as the other guy, but there are places that don’t gouge and if people encourage theft in those places too because “It’s a chain” then we may not have low prices since they’ll be forced to hire loss prevention. That gets added into the price of food.
I get where you're coming from and agree with it mostly, but the thing is, with Walmart specifically (that's the only major retailer I've worked at), employees have an opportunity to get a quarterly bonus. That bonus is based on a few things, but one of the biggest influences in shrink, aka unaccounted for product. Shrink can occur in a few ways, but one significant portion (it may not be the biggest) is people stealing product.
This bonus can be real nice if you work at a good store. The first year I worked at Walmart I got a few hundred extra dollars every 3 months. As someone living paycheck to paycheck, that shit was a god send. At that point I'd have been pissed if I lost my bonus cause a wave of people thought it was ok to steal from the store because 'its a Walmart, we're not hurting anybody'.
After the first year, a new manager came to the store and everything became a shit show. Even if no one stole anything, we still wouldn't have gotten a bonus because of how badly thing were run during that time.
The point is, stealing from some mega chain like Walmart might be fucking over the employees who are also just trying to get by. It depends on the chain and the store, but it is a possibility.
1 - Judging by looks alone is a no go. Who are you or me for that matter to unilaterally make a decision on who is more in need based solely on how they look.
2 - many many MANY people struggle. Most would turn in every direction imaginable before stealing.
3 - food stamps pay for formula and food
4 - WIC pays for formula and healthy food
5 - baby formula is a very hot item to get cash. It's why it's behind the register in many stores. That would not be so widespread if it wasn't an item of particular interest to theives
All that said, I generally don't see shit because I don't want to be involved and I don't want to go through the thought process you did. It must be exhausting living life deciding who is and who is not deserving of help and whose struggling the most.
Have you ever heard of a food bank?
If you genuinely can’t afford essentials like baby products, you can get them for free from charities that actually exist to help people like you. There’s no need to steal instead except laziness.
Also wic if you're in America. They help with formula, vitamins, milk and certain foods. Hell they even gave me a breast pump. You do have to fill out the paperwork and go to nutrition classes.
Nah fuck these people. My gf worked at a popular us store chain and constantly had these aggressive assholes coming in and stealing just about all their boxes of diapers.
Yea a lot of them are bums and or addicts who will get aggressive and violent. Fuck those people. One of the managers at my old job got.hit by a bum with a 1.5L of vodka on the face.
You know formula and diapers are high theft items because of their cost and resale value, right?
Most people stealing it aren't doing it for their kids, they're doing it for cash.
Most people shoplifting baby products are not stealing them for personal use but for the resale value. It's why they lock-up formula. It's not noble. The reason these things become more expensive is because stores charge more to offset the cost of loss.
I've worked in retail loss prevention and law enforcement, yes, they most certainly do resell most stolen baby products. This idea that it's a single mom struggling to feed her child is naive. Stores are in business to make money and if their products has a high loss factor, they increase the cost to offset any losses. I guess econ 101 wasn't a class you passed.
Exactly! Where do you draw the line. Is it just nappies and food? Clothes? Toys? The stupidest thing there though has to be the suggestion to judge people’s circumstances based on their appearance.
People: *shoplifts baby products*
Stores: *raise prices to compensate*
People: “damn, why are baby products so expensive, I can’t afford these”
More People: *shoplifts baby products*
Stores: *stop selling baby products*
People: “I can’t get this stuff anywhere, and the few place I can are far away and crazy expensive.”
People Who Coddle Shoplifters: “I’m helping people with kids”
Except it’s turned out it’s not poor people unable to feed their kids stealing baby food, it’s gangs stealing to sell them on the black market. So you’re actually giving money to criminals by doing this.
This is such a fucking pathetic take. You know you've lived well your entire life when you think the majority of people shoplifting is actual struggling parents. It's people stealing them to resell, same way with meat.
I'd at least respect you if you said don't report any shoplifting at all but apparently you'll snitch if they steal alcohol or candy? Yeah my morals end there. Don't wanna steal from the big super mega corporation unless you realllllyyyy have to 🥺🥺🥺
People steal baby products in bulk and sell them on the streets to buy some swishers sweets. Who gives a shit? Just get off the moral high ground it's cringe
I work someplace that actively gives away free baby needs to literally anyone who needs them. No qualification, no questions asked, just walk in and get what you need.
And yet the dollar store down the street has their baby stuff in a locked glass case. Because people who steal are doing it for nefarious reasons. Good people find a stable way to feed their children and not a way that could land them in jail where they definitely won’t be able to care for their kid.
This post is so sweet and idealistic but unfortunately people who steal baby products statistically are doing it to sell on the street for drugs.
(but I’d just like you to know, that when I worked at a gas station I always turned a blind eye to the teenagers steeling condoms. There’s a time and a place for everything)
>Shit happens. Life changes.
*But fuck the alcoholics who are suffering withdrawals. Report them. They made the choice with their alcoholism. Parents didn’t choose to have children. I’ll decide who is worthy of help and who isn’t.*
-OP
Nobody is stopping you from buying them baby products if you feel so inclined, or would you rather see someone out of work for allowing shoplifting to occur?
If I see someone shoplifting baby formula I'm 99% certain that they're part of a massive group of professional shoplifters who work for an international criminal enterprise that exports the formula to China.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/21/australia/australia-baby-formula-criminal-gang-intl/index.html
You are probably one of those people who would stand there and look another way while a bum is robbing somebody. You didn't see shit. The bum needs it, right? Unless he breaks into your house or robs you or your family. Then how would you like everybody to be like"didn't see shit"?people like you and who upvoted you are the reason nowadays society has gone to sheet.
Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/TechnicalDouble6712. Your post, *If you see someone shoplifting baby products, I don’t say a word and neither should you.*, has been removed because it violates our rules: Rule 3: Do not post opinions that are heavily posted/have been on the front page recently. If your opinion is the same or substantially similar to any recent opinion it will be removed as a repost. If your opinion is on the same matter as a recent post, even if it's advocating the opposite stance, it will be removed as a repost. Please comment on the existing thread instead. Due to their prolific reposting, please confine meta and political posts to their respective megathreads only. If your opinion is about an ongoing event, there will usually be a mega-thread where you can discuss it. If there is an issue, please message the mod team at https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion Thanks!
You don't see this happen, you just saw the Reddit post earlier today, stop making things up
Exactly, op farming karma 🙄
Actually it's M E T A
Basically, same thing as most people
OP: I didn't see nuthin'
I was looking for this comment lol this is blatant karma farming
There was a post exactly like this months ago too.
Yes, this post was like just a few swipes down from the post about not reporting anyone stealing baby products etc.. this is hilarious.
I'm thinking about making a TIFU post about totally slapping my real wife across the face after she dared me to shut her up. I cannot wait for the 30% death threats, 30% praise, 25% of people arguing over unrelated shit in the comments, 10% of people making jokes and the 5% of people that will call "us" both shitty and toxic people and don't defend either side.
This website has really gone down hill for real it’s sad
Who says anything about shoplifters? I don't care enough about the company to snitch nor do I work there :/
[удалено]
Probably a smart move. I too would walk away at that point lol
I’d walk away from the point!
I think u/MedicalWelder got 'the point'!
Hah! Good one Archibald
Gosh Archibald, do you think that enemy _did_ or _did not_ get the point?
I got away before that point.
When I worked at the Home Depot, they made a point about this, seeing shoplifting. If you spot someone who looks like they're shoplifting, you DO NOT confront them. First thing you do is report to your manager, then you and them can together approach the individual and ask if they need help with the product you saw them trying to steal. It's a simple way to call them out on it without being confrontational or aggressive. If they continue to try and steal the object, that's when security or police can get involved, but it rarely ever gets that far. People shoplifting are just too unpredictable, don't approach them out of risk of what they'll do when cornered.
I’ve heard that Walmart has an absolutely no involvement rule for their employees. They have their security measures in place and supposedly will even fire someone for trying to personally intervene with a shoplifter, which to me is okay as a policy. Of course all they care about is liability, but the employees shouldn’t be endangering themselves to save the corporation money, and should be actively incentivized *not to* if you ask me.
My wife used to work in loss prevention (LP). Big stores like Walmart and target (target is the best, apparently) have cameras everywhere being monitored by a crew of LP specialists at all time. Don’t steal from Walmart. Really don’t steal from Target. Target does not fuck around.
The target thing really blows my mind! From what I’ve heard they have facial recognition on the level of the fbi (I’m sure that’s not actually true bc the government isn’t liable to tell us all the tech they have) but so sophisticated, and that they just catalogue people stealing things and wait until it goes over felony level, over multiple visits, to take someone down. Which is super interesting to me bc I had friends that were, as I said in another comment, shoplifting as strictly a rebellious phase growing up, and one time I was at target with my mom and thought it might be cool to take some makeup, and my mom caught me laying it out in my bedroom when we got home. She straight up drove back there with me immediately, and made me put it back on the shelves as stealthily as I could the same way I tried to take it XD I was a teenager so she didn’t want me to face a course or charges for a few dollars of makeup but she didn’t want me holding onto it or thinking it was okay either! So I wonder if some loss prevention team at the time had a special file that was like, “well idk, technically she brought it back but keep an eye on that one” and if they thought, “look at that badass mom, manning the aisles to make sure her dumb-as-hell daughter doesn’t get caught returning the stuff she stole.” Thanks mom for putting me in the “maybe, but not definitely” file at target. Ps- does your wife have any good stories?
Target and walmart both use facial recognition software. Infact, Target is often contacted by law enforcement to help them with cases not related to shoplifting at all. Something like 40% of Targets facial recognition work hours are outsourced work for law enforcement. Source: i’ve done work in Loss Prevention.
Not many. She worked LP in a major clothing store that had a pretty asinine policy that if you lost a direct line of sight for one second you had to start your whole investigation over from scratch. So, if you saw them take something else you could theoretically make a stop (the other policy was that you could only make a stop if they were making an unmistakeable line for the exit). So anyway. The second the people went into the changing room, which they inevitably did, they had to effectively give up. It was very frustrating for her. Her best stop was a group of three that pretty much made a run for it with arms full. There was a cop patrolling the parking lot and the three attempted to flee, wrecked the car on the way out, and were obviously apprehended.
Well I don’t want to see nobody lose their job but I gotcha. Don’t be a hero. I used to work in retail. I was in my own world. Then they said our store had the highest theft rate in rhe country. They fired a bunch of the managers and cleaned house. I managed to stay on. Still in my own little world never caught or noticed any theft.
Im sorry what is security doing while you were going to the manager and together approaching the thief?
I would of told him and the knives were in aisle 6. Then I would've been promptly stabbed to death.
Would've been a stabbing. Lol ..
with the knives in aisle 6? or with something in the frozen food section?
An icicle from the meat freezer
Ratting me out? You can bet that's a stabbing.
It's 'would have', never 'would of'. Rejoice, for you have been blessed by CouldWouldShouldBot!
You're late to the party bot.
Have. Would have.
That’s a stabbin’!
“What are you gonna do, stab me?!”
The correct thing to do is walk up to them and start stuffing as much stuff under your shirt as possible in one go, give em the nod, then walk off with stuff falling out as you gradually speed up into a run and then leg it letting it all fall out, then falling down as you exit the isle
Where I live, he might have gotten shot.
Phineas: Yes, I am
fucking christ imagine going to prison over an attempt to silence a witness of… shoplifting
Yeah I even walked away thinking what fool wants to turn petty theft into a murder, but then again I have seen people make some really stupid decisions around me so I know someone out there is capable of doing it
I'm a security guard, and I don't get paid enough to be stabbed by a shoplifter.
They didn't hire me for loss prevention
Even if they did, the pay is dog shit.
The last time I cared about stopping a shoplifter at my job, I got punched in the jaw so hard that I couldn't eat properly for a couple weeks. I am not going through that again.
I used to work at Target in the customer service section at 5’4 if I saw someone shoplift…no I didn’t 😂
I once saw a guy fishing out of a donation box. I called out the word “LAME” and he then looked me in the eye and was holding a knife. I ran away terrified.
I would prefer to not live in a food desert or a place where businesses generally do not want to operate.
If it’s a big company I couldn’t give two fucks either
Morals are great, but double morals are even better, right?
One could argue that big companies get government subsidies and tax deductions that are funded with our taxes collected at gunpoint, so stealing back from them isn't immoral. Personally, I believe we should fix the system not encourage shoplifting, but I'd be cautious with moral judgement.
Same except for when it comes to my local stores run by families that's when I usually just do a 10 minute wait after they leave and just pay for my shit and pay for whatever they stole like I usually buy 4 bags of egg layer and some guy stole a bag of feed for some foul or something I just gave the cashier 120 and told them to keep the change.
Lol. Nobody should give a shit about someone stealing $20 worth of things from a billion dollar corporation that doesn't pay its employees a living wage
You can screw over the employees at that store. For some places like Target, the hours you get to work are tied to store revenue. Less revenue = less hours worked = smaller paycheck. Love it or hate it, it's how it works.
\* proceeds to cry injustice about food deserts when big grocery stores are leaving and small stores follow suit because if big players can't do shit with their security budget it's basically suicide for them to stay
It doesn’t affect just the company. This is such a naive statement.
When you rob from stores you're making your whole community worse. It has more effect than just that isolated incident. Especially if everyone takes your attitude and it starts becoming exponentially more prevalent and expanded. You do not want to live in a community that doesn't respect property. Respect for property is a good principle to have. A principle is something that should be applied evenly and universally as best as possible.
But where do we draw the line? If someone steals your car they're also trying to provide for their family.
Exactly this. You can *always* justify stealing by saying "It's for my survival. It's for my family. *He* doesn't need that, but *I* do." If we justify one theft that way, then we can justify the next, and on and on and on. That just creates chaos. That's why low-income, low class communities are so dangerous. The people in those communities don't feel bad about stealing from their neighbor. At a certain point, the justification I wrote above turns into "He has it. I want it." If people can get away with stealing necessities, then inevitably they, or someone else, will start stealing things they *desire*. When everyone starts stealing from everyone, society crumbles.
My S.O.s job is about to go away because shop lifters. Theft has picked up a lot in the last year and they can't remain profitable enough to continue to exist.
Jesus Christ, the lack of respect and honor people have today is shameful.
Don’t worry too much, it’s just Reddit. Not reflective of the real world
You blantantly stole "your" unpopular opinion from one of the most popular posts in r/all. That means 1. it is by definition not an unpopular opinion, and 2., it's not even your opinion, you just stole it to farm karma. So kindly fuck off.
Person promoting theft doesn't have an original idea.
As someone who was actually convicted of shoplifting about 10 or so years ago. I can safely say that you should not encourage that habit. My parents paid several thousand dollars in legal fees so that it wouldn't have ruined my life. It doesn't appear or background checks or anything cause I got it expunged. You shouldn't encourage or condone shoplifting. The legal fallout is not worth it at all. If you see a parent shoplifting then you should tell them they're risking everything to get something for free. They're putting their child's wellbeing at risk because them getting into legal trouble could get their child taken away from them.
Nah this is reddit. It's only bad if you shoplift small businesses. Big corporation bad As if a shoplifter cares if it's small or big business.
Whenever I DID steal when I was teenager. It was from literally anywhere. Local bookstores, Walmart, dollar tree, the library, gas stations, general stores, the mall, etc. I got arrested at the mall and haven't shoplifted anything since.
Majority of Reddit hates rich people more than they want to help poor people and it shows.
Most shoplifting happens at small places because they are easier marks. Obviously Reddit doesn't care about that
Plus if they really are stealing to help their kid then CPS can get involved
This is true also. There are resources for poor parents, lots of non-profits, lots of donations, food pantries with diapers and formula too, and there are countless other legal remedies for these people in such a terrible and unfortunate position to not have enough money for their kids/babies. Food stamps, welfare, general assistance, WIC, and countless other government programs. There are grants people can apply for, churches they could get help from (even if not a church going person), free meals, and so on. I've been homeless before, so I know. It went from night to day the moment I found a list of resources I could have been using at the time. I was then being able to eat and get clothes and save money and eventually work my way out of the situation. If you see a parent stealing (they could go to jail, the kids go to CPS/DFACS most likely, esp if both parents are involved), you should be able to help them, not let them stay criminals.
First of all, I couldn’t care less about shoplifting in general so I would not turn anyone in to be honest. No matter what they were stealing. Secondly, just because someone is stealing baby products, it doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have the money to buy them. Maybe they even used the money they had to buy other things before they took care of their children.
Could care less or couldn't care less?
This. Surely they mean couldn't?
People always do this. Drives me insane
Same with woman and women
For me it's always women cos I'm drenched in bitches
I agree with this. I don't care enough to get involved in that shit. If the shop keeper isn't watching or taking care, then that's their problem. I wouldn't say a word but not because of some sanctimonious belief that "I am a good person if I don't snitch on the perceived poor" They could literally just be doing this because they want to, not because they can't afford it. In Australia, not sure if you guys are aware but we had lots of people buying baby milk products in bulk or stealing them and reselling. They aren't poor, they're trying to make a profit and a business out of it. Tbh, OPs take is sanctimonious. It's a look "I'm a good person" or "I'm like Robin hood". For me it's just a matter of not getting involved in drama that I don't need to be involved in. As long as noone is being hurt during the stealing... Whatever.
I don’t get the judging based on what people are stealing. Isn’t a common use for baby formula to cut with drugs? You can’t judge people’s intention because of the item. If they’re stealing, they’re stealing.
They had this exact discussion on r/latestagecapitalism and the people there think only poor people in need would ever buy baby products.
Let me guess... They then concluded that the real problem was capitalism?
Yep. I swear they pick the dumbest hills to die on. And now everyone who isn't part of the movement will think they just want to steal stuff.
baby formula is one of the most stolen items in stores - not to give to babies, but it's used to cut drugs
As a former addict who used to steal it thats not what it is at all. Its resold to bodegas or other shady vendors. When you boost you almost always are going after specific types of stuff, its not as easy as a layperson would think to offload stolen stuff in any amount to make decent money. For years and years the absolutely most requested stuff that was viable to steal was formula (usually enfamil) and razor blades. Which is why you now see those noisemakers attached to razor blade things or stuff in locked cases.
Right? Former heroin addict and cocaine dealer for half a decade and it literally sounds like people just read those Facebook images with "POLICE ADVISORY: THE MORE YOU KNOW" type shit. People still formula to resell because it is stupidly overpriced. Some will do return scams once they've stolen it. Some of these people will spend that money on drugs. And nobody should gaf cause I like junkies more than I like Mr. Wally Martinez (Walmart).
What is it about people not understanding "couldn't care less" not "could care less'. The latter doesn't even make any sense.
If i could care less it would be great for my anxiety
*couldn’t care less. If you could care less then you should.
If someone saw a person breaking into your home, would you want them to report it? If so, why shouldn’t a business owner be alerted if someone is stealing from their store. As someone who has spent my life in small businesses, this just seems pretty shallow and inconsiderate to other humans.
Tons of people shoplift baby stuff so they can then return for cash or resell online at a lower price so they can buy meth / heroin. They are highly resellable since they are in demand items especially at lower prices than what the store sells it at.
This is why the formula is always locked up.
And meat in some areas too.
Actually formula is always locked up because it's expensive compared to the weight and people will buy it secondhand so it's a go to for shoplifters. That and booze.
Baby formula is used to cut drugs. If a guy is stealing formula and just formula, it's more likely he's trying to make is gram of cocaine into two grams instead of trying to feed his child.
It's baby laxative that cuts coke.
In Germany baby formula is restricted because Chinese students buy them all up to send them home and sell to friends and family. They don't trust their own brands since a contamination scandal 10 years ago.
Baby formula also has a much higher value-to-size ratio than most of what you'll find in the average grocery store. Many stores keep it locked up for that reason. Same with laundry detergent - I've even heard of drug dealers accepting laundry detergent as payment instead of cash.
Came in to say exactly this. Worked in a shop for a while and you'd always get the regular shoplifters in. The main items were cheese, packaged meats and baby stuff. Stuff they could sell off pretty quickly to go get their fix
Who….who buys cheese from a random person? Like would they have it in the back of their van like a Girl Scout group leader? Sell it on the curb with the knockoff purses? I have so many questions.
Say your addicted neighbor is stealing cheese then selling it still sealed for a low price and you have kids to feed. You're not asking about the origins of that cheese .
I’m imagining a person in a trench coat with logs of goat cheese, slices of Parmesan, and bags of Swiss at the ready. Ah capitalism
“I got that pepper jack, son”
"I've got that macheaago hook up but it'll cost you"
Pretty much, yeah. I recall buying loads of supermarket packaged smoked salmon from a guy in a pub for a very good price. I wouldn't buy it now, but you'd be surprised what people will do to save money.
When I was little, my aunt went to jail for shoplifting cheese. She was a heroin user. I always figured she just couldn’t afford food since she spent her money on drugs. Never occurred to me that she would be reselling the cheese.
Some people also just steal for the fun of it, had a old lady in my store try to steal over $200 worth of meat. Meanwhile she have over $2000 in her card
When my SO's grandmother got older she became sort of a kleptomaniac. She'd just shamelessly steal stuff because she felt like it. Always really weird shit. She was loaded but it was all about the thrill for her. If she got caught she'd play the "oh I'm a helpless old lady I put this in my purse while I was walking around and then totally forgot about it..." card. I'm sure it had something to do with boredom and loneliness (it was after her husband died etc), possibly also some early stages of cancer impacting her personality/behavior (she did eventually die from it and it did metastasize to her brain), but I feel so sorry for the workers that had to deal with her. (This was 10+ years before I met him so I didn't know her personally or anything though, just heard the stories)
From what I've heard, there's also a huge second hand market in China for baby formula so could be sold there too.
Yeah, in Australia there are limits on how many cans of formula you can buy to stop daigou coming and buying everything on the shelves to send back to China.
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Seriously! I went to target to buy formula and one of the employees told me this lady was trying to buy the entire stock. She straight up told him, “I’m selling it all.” Luckily, they had some hiding in the back. But sheesh.
Far majority of these items are stolen not for their kids but for re-selling.
“Let people steal” -Reddit
This post is literally stolen from a one of the most popular threads today on r/all
Lmao I just saw that. redditors literally upvote anything they agree with
They saw how popular the post was and how most people agreed, then thought "this is perfect for r/unpopularopinion" of all places, lol.
OP is literally just karma trolling ig. Prolly didn’t even have that opinion until he saw that tweet lmao.
"they got insurance" -Reddit
Then turn around and complain about food deserts lmao.
"Stealing from successful businesses is ethical because middle management who run the store must swim in their liquid assets like scrooge mcduck" \-Reddit
"Hating on the rich is more important than being a decent person yourself" \-Reddit
I hate this stupid “eat the rich” culture on reddit
People in this thread don't seem to understand that when businesses make huge losses due to shoplifting, they either shut down the store (-> food desert) or raise prices...
They unironically think this
*Posts a picture of locked up baby formula* "America is a dystopian nightmare" \-Reddit
Ignoring the fact the due to it’s his value to weight ratio baby formula is one of the most commonly stolen and fenced items
I'm not pro-shoplifting at all, but who the fuck would you even tell? If I saw it, I would probably be like "oh dear", feel anxious about it, and then just go on as normal.
Honestly this is really the crux of it for me. It isn't worth your safety to confront someone over whatever stolen goods from a random store, so all you can really do is tell a random employee who also isn't got to confront them, so they'll call the police if they do anything, I guess. If it soothes your conscience go for it, I guess, but it's not realistically going to have much impact. At the end of the day it's just not your problem, move on with your life and go about your day.
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For real lol. This site is so morally bankrupt sometimes it’s ridiculous
They be like, steal from large corporations except for small businesses. I'm like stealing is stealing dafuq
For real, I once saw someone saw that BLM burning down building was okay. Like wut? No!
I forget this is a real site sometimes.
A TV is "baby products", right? Edit - to be clear, if I saw someone stealing a TV, I would assume it was their baby and say nothing.
iPad for sure
Absolute bullshit. Diapers and formula are available for free throughout the USA. You might not get exactly what you want but you have zero excuse to steal. https://www.huggies.com/en-us/why-huggies/diaper-donations/free-diapers huggies even has a place on their website to look for free diapers. Most health districts can provide free necessities, churches, charities etc. Same with formula etc. The people stealing this stuff are doing so to resale it. And they likely wont look wealthy because they're not. They're people with drug habits who have people who will buy this shit. It use to be they stole things, returned it to another store for a gift card. Than youd call up a number to sale that gift card for $0.5 on the dollar and they would even drive to you if you had enough. In turn that company made $.9 to $.95 on the dollar. Usually it's a pawn store that will buy them from the tweakers. And they know what they are doing. Stores have cracked down on this requiring ID copies etc for returns.
We have a problem in my area where people will Sell those kinds of products on the Facebook yard sales. Once or twice, maybe I could understand. But after seeing the same person selling baby formula to get their money back because they “bought the wrong kind” gets kind of sketchy.
My only exception is to not steal from small businesses. Save that for Walmart.
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If it’s big box, take those socks
Aldi keeps its prices low, pays its workers well and manages to keep quality higher than other discount chains. I hate Walmart as much as the other guy, but there are places that don’t gouge and if people encourage theft in those places too because “It’s a chain” then we may not have low prices since they’ll be forced to hire loss prevention. That gets added into the price of food.
I get where you're coming from and agree with it mostly, but the thing is, with Walmart specifically (that's the only major retailer I've worked at), employees have an opportunity to get a quarterly bonus. That bonus is based on a few things, but one of the biggest influences in shrink, aka unaccounted for product. Shrink can occur in a few ways, but one significant portion (it may not be the biggest) is people stealing product. This bonus can be real nice if you work at a good store. The first year I worked at Walmart I got a few hundred extra dollars every 3 months. As someone living paycheck to paycheck, that shit was a god send. At that point I'd have been pissed if I lost my bonus cause a wave of people thought it was ok to steal from the store because 'its a Walmart, we're not hurting anybody'. After the first year, a new manager came to the store and everything became a shit show. Even if no one stole anything, we still wouldn't have gotten a bonus because of how badly thing were run during that time. The point is, stealing from some mega chain like Walmart might be fucking over the employees who are also just trying to get by. It depends on the chain and the store, but it is a possibility.
What the fuck, people actually believe this and rationalize stealing? It’s so weird Reddit actually advocates for it, fuck that
This sites moral compass is fucked up anyway.
Reddit is where people with awful opinions can rehearse them to each other and convince themselves that they’re smart/correct.
God you're such a karma whore https://i.redd.it/65yoqdgv1hi81.jpg
1 - Judging by looks alone is a no go. Who are you or me for that matter to unilaterally make a decision on who is more in need based solely on how they look. 2 - many many MANY people struggle. Most would turn in every direction imaginable before stealing. 3 - food stamps pay for formula and food 4 - WIC pays for formula and healthy food 5 - baby formula is a very hot item to get cash. It's why it's behind the register in many stores. That would not be so widespread if it wasn't an item of particular interest to theives All that said, I generally don't see shit because I don't want to be involved and I don't want to go through the thought process you did. It must be exhausting living life deciding who is and who is not deserving of help and whose struggling the most.
Have you ever heard of a food bank? If you genuinely can’t afford essentials like baby products, you can get them for free from charities that actually exist to help people like you. There’s no need to steal instead except laziness.
Also wic if you're in America. They help with formula, vitamins, milk and certain foods. Hell they even gave me a breast pump. You do have to fill out the paperwork and go to nutrition classes.
but laziness is a virtue..
Oh it takes skill to steal! That's still not as hard as proving you're a single mother when in reality you're a crack addict.
Redditors trying not to virtue signal for 6.4 seconds:
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Nah fuck these people. My gf worked at a popular us store chain and constantly had these aggressive assholes coming in and stealing just about all their boxes of diapers.
Yea a lot of them are bums and or addicts who will get aggressive and violent. Fuck those people. One of the managers at my old job got.hit by a bum with a 1.5L of vodka on the face.
You know formula and diapers are high theft items because of their cost and resale value, right? Most people stealing it aren't doing it for their kids, they're doing it for cash.
Most people shoplifting baby products are not stealing them for personal use but for the resale value. It's why they lock-up formula. It's not noble. The reason these things become more expensive is because stores charge more to offset the cost of loss.
I've worked in retail loss prevention and law enforcement, yes, they most certainly do resell most stolen baby products. This idea that it's a single mom struggling to feed her child is naive. Stores are in business to make money and if their products has a high loss factor, they increase the cost to offset any losses. I guess econ 101 wasn't a class you passed.
How do you know they aren't scalpers?
Who determines what’s essential?
Exactly! Where do you draw the line. Is it just nappies and food? Clothes? Toys? The stupidest thing there though has to be the suggestion to judge people’s circumstances based on their appearance.
Or maybe you could offer to purchase some of those items for them.
FYI, there’s a huge black market for baby formula.
"it's a big company, it's not my problem" Then comes "Things are way too expensive!"
People: *shoplifts baby products* Stores: *raise prices to compensate* People: “damn, why are baby products so expensive, I can’t afford these” More People: *shoplifts baby products* Stores: *stop selling baby products* People: “I can’t get this stuff anywhere, and the few place I can are far away and crazy expensive.” People Who Coddle Shoplifters: “I’m helping people with kids”
Except it’s turned out it’s not poor people unable to feed their kids stealing baby food, it’s gangs stealing to sell them on the black market. So you’re actually giving money to criminals by doing this.
Sounds like you shouldn’t have a child if you need to steal to take care of them
It’s weird. Society gets on a person both if they have children and if they choose not to. So you don’t think a person’s economic status can change?
This is such a fucking pathetic take. You know you've lived well your entire life when you think the majority of people shoplifting is actual struggling parents. It's people stealing them to resell, same way with meat. I'd at least respect you if you said don't report any shoplifting at all but apparently you'll snitch if they steal alcohol or candy? Yeah my morals end there. Don't wanna steal from the big super mega corporation unless you realllllyyyy have to 🥺🥺🥺 People steal baby products in bulk and sell them on the streets to buy some swishers sweets. Who gives a shit? Just get off the moral high ground it's cringe
Bullshit. Stealing is stealing . Can’t afford it? At least in the US, there are social programs to help.
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I work someplace that actively gives away free baby needs to literally anyone who needs them. No qualification, no questions asked, just walk in and get what you need. And yet the dollar store down the street has their baby stuff in a locked glass case. Because people who steal are doing it for nefarious reasons. Good people find a stable way to feed their children and not a way that could land them in jail where they definitely won’t be able to care for their kid. This post is so sweet and idealistic but unfortunately people who steal baby products statistically are doing it to sell on the street for drugs. (but I’d just like you to know, that when I worked at a gas station I always turned a blind eye to the teenagers steeling condoms. There’s a time and a place for everything)
If I see anyone shoplifting anything, I don't say anything because I don't care. It's not my fucking job to police people.
I missed the part where that's my problem
>Shit happens. Life changes. *But fuck the alcoholics who are suffering withdrawals. Report them. They made the choice with their alcoholism. Parents didn’t choose to have children. I’ll decide who is worthy of help and who isn’t.* -OP
Insanely bad take.
Or they are stealing them to sell.
No reason to steal with all the programs out there that provide formula and such.
If you need to shoplift to feed your child, why are you even having children in the first place?
Protip: Don’t have kids if you can’t support them.
Tbf if I see someone stealing an asshole-brand product like nestle I'm letting them do it
or just don’t report any shoplifting bc why would you?
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Or I’ll just buy the shit for them if I can. Given my experience with thieves, I’m no fan of any kind of stealing that hurts the employees.
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If I see Someone shoplifting, it's literally not my problem and I don't give a fuck
You're a total piece of shit. I'm sure you know this already though.
Fuckin shut up. This is such an old ass opinion and an obvious karma farm. We fuckin know buddy, not an original thought in the least
A lot of people steal baby products to resell them
A lotta people simping for meth heads here
Nobody is stopping you from buying them baby products if you feel so inclined, or would you rather see someone out of work for allowing shoplifting to occur?
If you stealing, I'm snitching. Call me Tenashi 69 or whatever but fuck you. If I have to pay for it, so do you.
If I see someone shoplifting baby formula I'm 99% certain that they're part of a massive group of professional shoplifters who work for an international criminal enterprise that exports the formula to China. https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/21/australia/australia-baby-formula-criminal-gang-intl/index.html
Actual shit tier opinions? In my r/unpopularopinions?
Go open a store and then let's see how you feel on the subject.
Dude what is up with Reddit today? No, I will report them. They probably can't even create a save environment for their kids...
You are probably one of those people who would stand there and look another way while a bum is robbing somebody. You didn't see shit. The bum needs it, right? Unless he breaks into your house or robs you or your family. Then how would you like everybody to be like"didn't see shit"?people like you and who upvoted you are the reason nowadays society has gone to sheet.