Let's Talk About Shoplifting | Renegade Cut

[@renegadecut9875]

I mentioned this in the video, but please subscribe to AdequateEmily's KZbin channel. Link in the description. She provided the voice for the employee. I also appeared in her most recent video about the movie High Life, if you are looking for something to watch.

[@JDdr86]

👌🏽👍🏽MAGNIFICENT!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@Hughes81]

At my local bodega once and the old lady behind the counter yelled at a kid who was shoplifting. "Hey! Go rob Target!"

[@neoqwerty]

Now that is a shoplifting deterrent I can get behind. "Don't rob me, rob the corporations"

[@sourgreendolly7685]

She’s right!

[@Bobylein1337]

Damn, I think I'd have paid her for that boys stuff after that

[@adammusack1103]

Based

[@RyanStorey1231]

Oooh, Target is the one corporation you don't want to shoplift from. Their LP is no joke. They are vigilant and will literally tackle you to the ground and handcuff you.

[@JosephKerr27]

"A corporation is not a person. A corporation is a series of transactions masquerading as a personality through mascots and given a false tangibility through brick and mortar stores." Well said!

[@davidd1289]

But so is a person. We are full of false tangibilities

[@OneCSeven]

@@davidd1289 ok dracula

[@neofromthewarnerbrothersic145]

@@davidd1289 Um... You can't just ignore 90% of the description and zero in on two words just because you want to make some vague and useless hand waving gesture toward metaphysics. Sure, everything is made of "star stuff" bro... But a corporation is not a person.

[@notzephy5033]

@@neofromthewarnerbrothersic145 No cuz, it’s sad you have to even explain that.

[@academicorum3651]

Poetry

[@Estradiol_Gaming]

When I worked retail there was one woman who made it her mission to stop as many shoplifters as possible. She probably saved them a couple hundred a week and they refused to give her a raise.

[@princessmarlena1359]

Now that’s funny! 🤣

[@frostiswan7058]

And if they do give her a raise, it'll be a measly $0.50/hr

[@Cheftimusprime]

It's because most companies tell you not to fuck with anyone if you see them stealing you're just putting yourself in danger and they're insured and against loss to theft and not injury from assault or worse.

[@Vohlfied]

That is licking the boot on your neck.

[@kozy15x]

Nobody likes an asskisser

[@crashmaxx1987]

If I didn't see how much stuff gets thrown out by stores (and crushed) every day, I would be more concerned with shoplifting.

[@vylbird8014]

That's shrink too.

[@KatKaleen]

I'm moving soon because I found work, but back when I first moved in and was unemployed and found no other place to stay, my upstairs neighbourh's friend going dumpster diving at the store next door helped the whole house. He was like Santa Clause, standing in the hallway and letting everybody take what they needed. Then the store put a lock on the trash container. Fuck them.

[@nodieza]

As someone who worked at CVS for 8 years, this is 100% how I felt. I never cared once about people who stole stuff, except for when they clogged the toilets trying to flush the packaging. For some time we'd put the "expired" foods in sealed bags and put those in the dumpsters and the dumpster divers (generally homeless) would usually get them. After a few years we got in trouble for that so we had to then destroy the items by ripping them open and spraying them with bleach. It was a disgusting practice. I am 3 years out of retail now and I hope I never have to go back. Just traumatizing seeing all of the waste and disgusting practices.

[@ericcarabetta1161]

Bingo.

[@lolly9804]

I remember a change in ownership brought a change in policy around seconds for my old produce department. All the old stock used to just go to homeless shelter to get souped, as it wasn't even rotten. And we would provide four or five crates a day of old veg for that. But the new owner saw it as a waste of employee time. Even though it actually took more time for me to wheel all that excess off to the trash compactor. Then it did for the trimmers to just stack it just outside for the church folk to do a pick up.

[@DemonRaz117]

One of the most heinous things about these 'shrink' calculations is that the managers of these huge stores are sometimes given bonus incentives to keep them low, and these incentives are seldom distributed to the people who are asked to do the actual work in stopping 'shrink'. The video briefly touches on this, but the other main problem with these calculations is that shrink is often used as shorthand for shoplifting, but if a flat-screen TV gets damaged during handling by an employee and needs to be removed from inventory, guess what it's categorized as? Shrink! Just another way to make the problem seem more serious than it is. Like the video said, some shoplifting is thrill seeking behavior that wouldn't be stopped by eliminating poverty and wealth inequality, but the argument that shoplifting is a major problem for these companies makes it seem like these predatory companies are victims. They're not.

[@henriquepacheco7473]

Only shoplifter I knew was a white, wealthy thrill-seeking kid. Of course, I imagine that's the only kind of person who would actually brag openly about shoplifting, but nevertheless they exist (and almost certainly don't actually matter as far as the corporation's numbers go)

[@MauroEnfermoDeLepra]

Shoplifting thrillseekers are fine, They are the enemy of my enemy

[@mechanomics2649]

@@osurpless I've unfortunately seen this done even in certain prominent leftwing communities when people complain about items being locked in displays and other compartments.

[@MRCKify]

@@mechanomics2649 Locked displays would probably hit shoplifting and employee theft about equally, employee theft maybe slightly less. The cost of the locked displays and loss from slowed revenue is probably worth less than those two buckets in shrinkage. Are these places mostly independent or mostly chain outfits?

[@MRCKify]

What should a damaged piece of electronics get classified as?

[@shakenbacon-vm4eu]

‘White suburbanites, the demographic most easily tricked into fearing things that don’t affect them.’ God damn Leon! Fighting with the gloves off today!

[@internetdumbass]

fun fact, boxing became more dangerous after gloves were introduced, due to allowing people to punch each other in the face without breaking their hands

[@MegaMato]

I will freely admit, we are pretty easy to trick.

[@JackgarPrime]

Probably the best description of them I've ever heard.

[@ChrisBrooks34]

Companies that complain about shoplifting are also companies that regularly burn, destroy or otherwise get rid of excess product just so they won't end it up in the hands of "unregulated market". As an idiotic way to maintain scarcity and exclusivity

[@technopoptart]

a place i used to work would rip the covers off of books that were not selling fast enough so they couldnt be resold. it is a fucking mess

[@fredericksaxton9782]

​@@technopoptart That is a vile practice. How is that even allowed?

[@cbrindle91]

@@fredericksaxton9782 NFK! May as well burn the fuckin things... books dont last long after the cover is gone.

[@MRCKify]

@@technopoptart Your boss didn't want money from a reseller, or do you mean "resold" like when a library sells books? Sorry, I'm a little confused here...

[@jp12x]

@@MRCKify This was standard practice for decades among "pulp" companies. Comic Books, for example, were shipped but not paid for. The shop reported sales and provided covers as proof they hadn't sold them to resellers. To be clear: this is not unusual. The covers are returned as proof of non-sale.

[@CriticalDispatch]

When I used to work at Target, I remember a training on shoplifting going over the fact that we should look out for particular items and areas of the store that shoplifting was common. One such area they highlighted was the baby supplies: formula, diapers, etc. They apparently found nothing shocking about admitting that most shoplifted items were in this category.

[@DarthScrewtape27]

I can’t speak for all Targets but where I live they all have insane security departments with super sophisticated cameras and stuff, security theater at its finest.

[@Willow-Eversong]

Idk, when I worked at Target they told us to not stop any shoplifting. That our safety came before any product.

[@CriticalDispatch]

@@Willow-Eversong They told us specifically to be on the lookout and report it but not to interact with someone shoplifting at all.

[@notaninquisitor7274]

@@Willow-Eversong the cost of an employee suing due to injuries sustained while stopping a theft is exponentially greater than theft itself. They do not care about safety, they care about expenses.

[@chistinelane]

@@Willow-Eversong they don't care about you, the care about suing

[@bensagal-morris8072]

As someone who works retail, the employees are told NOT to try to stop the shoplifter. It’s because if we’re injured trying to stop them, the store now owes us compensation. That compensation is far more than the shoplifter could feasibly steal.

[@goonerbear8659]

Also, Walmart doesn't sell anything or pay you enough for you to risk your life over it.

[@MrAsaqe]

Also a reminder that we serve purely to exist as cattle to be exploited as the thieves both rich and poor get away with everything

[@anotherdeadweirdo382]

When I was at Wawa one of my friends got promoted to a management position that included overseeing shrinkage at the store with the highest shrinkage rate in the area. Trying to make a good impression, they came up with all of these proposals to reduce theft. Good ideas with simple execution too, a bunch of real no-brainers. Things like moving the high shrinkage items out of the path of the restrooms etc. They bring it to their area manager all excited that they’re going to get shrinkage under control and maybe even fast track themselves to an even better position and the AM says to them “yeah don’t worry about it. it’s already accounted for in the budget and it’s not worth the time and effort to fix it” When this friend pressed, arguing that many of his ideas took almost no time or effort the AM actually got hostile. They thought they were “doing the right thing” and it actually got them labeled a problem employee and ultimately shortened their career at the company. How I learned of the whole saga was afterward when they reflecting “so I’ve basically been told not to do half my job. what is even the point of this position, then? why am I here?” And, at least under that AM, the answer was probably “because it was either that or promote a PoC and, y’know...” Not a day went by at that company that I wasn’t grateful for not being in the retail end of things.

[@ryanlavarnway96]

In Ontario?

[@TheNotoriousBTG]

11:06 3 copies of Stop or My Mother Will Shoot costing $50 is the true crime

[@TheLastGreatDon]

"Mind your own business and stop snitching." I needed something to warm my heart today from youtube. Thank you.

[@nekovalley]

As a hapless liberal teenager, I was taught that the real people that get punished for shoplifting are the underpaid employees that take the flak for stolen goods, and THAT’S why you should never shoplift. I now know that corporations don’t care enough to penalize an individual worker for items stolen on their time. In fact, they rarely even notice anything’s been stolen at all. The only thing they’re penalizing workers for is wanting respect and livable wages. I think what really changed my mind was an image I saw of a few police officers posing with a “recovered stolen/shoplifted goods” haul. It was mostly baby supplies.

[@helgahaa]

Those cops have a bunch of complaints, big tough guys busting poor women

[@yarnpenguin]

Well into adulthood I had management at my jobs blame cutting hours on "shrink". Even at an optometry clinic, ten years ago! The place sold exclusively designer frames that would sell for hundreds of dollars to people with too much money. Anyway, we got hit really bad in a very short period of time with theft, needed to install racks that would lock for the frames... in the end it cost some thousands of dollars, so the doctors told management to cut hours to "make up" for what they had to spend to "protect" the office. Grrr.

[@Molly-ml1wn]

I saw the same picture, but the conclusion it helped me reach was a little different. When I saw the picture pf police officers proudly posing next to 184$ worth of shoplifted diapers, I thought "Oh, I finally get it. I'm dead and this is hell."

[@pigeondance687]

yup, products get damaged and discarded all the time, they don't keep a record of it

[@cottagehardcoreultrasw3998]

@@Molly-ml1wn its not hell. its the chance of a a lifetime. we just have to win or we are all stuck in hell. until we die. when we die only the trees know where we end up...

[@RADIOSUICIDIO]

ALSO big corporate stores were never good for the community, they forced a business model that small, family owned stores could never compete with, nor adapt to. In the grand scheme of things they employ less people, they make you need a car for getting the most basic supplies, and since I live in a country that's several steps ahead in the decline of free market society, let me tell you something you likely are yet to see: they have enough control in the supply chain to arbitrarily inflate prices, or at least to make an existing inflation crisis worse, for their own political interests.

[@mechanomics2649]

Where I lived, in the later 90's chains like Walmart ramped up in the area and destroyed all of the small businesses.

[@MRCKify]

There's a sort of thinking out there that the best long-term political-legal strategy is lower or zeroed-out tariffs, lower restrictions, licensing, and taxes on hiring, other new policies to allow supply expansion and competition. What do y'all think?

[@Brett_S_420]

Ya don't say... 🤔

[@Brett_S_420]

@@MRCKify That sounds good but I would add that everyone needs to be paid a living wage so they can go spend money which means more workers... 🔃🔃🔃🔃

[@Levicandoit]

While I was homeless, I was caught stealing from a Target in Portland. The manager pulled me aside, asked me for the merchandise, I thought he was going to pull one of the security guards and have me arrested. He just asked if that was it, and told me not to do it again, and sent me on my way. It was one of the most influential incidents of my life

[@MRCKify]

Now what do you do?

[@EnfieldsMikeP]

@@MRCKify manager at target

[@snaaaake59]

@@EnfieldsMikeP lol

[@KingofCrusher]

Was that the downtown Target on like 10th st? I knew one of the HR guys there and the stories he told me were insane, no wonder that dude just let you go. Simple shoplifting was like the very least of their concerns, haha. Their head of security just walked off the job because he was so underpaid and had to deal with the craziest shit all the time.

[@Levicandoit]

@@MRCKify sales manager at a hotel in Hood River Oregon. Never been more happy or more stable in my life.

[@tayzonday]

Amen! I can’t tell you how many times the website says something is in-stock but Best Buy, Home Depot, IKEA or wherever else can’t find it. They are very disorganized. Shoplifting losses are what an actuary would call “de minimis” at scale.

[@wuzzle22]

You are among the last people I'd expect to see commenting on a video like this

[@trentfoyer8125]

Omg I love that you watch this guy too!

[@sourgreendolly7685]

@@wuzzle22 He’s commented before! Tay gets it.

[@Atomic_Acorn969]

@@wuzzle22 I guess you never actually *heard* the lyrics of Chocolate Rain 😜

[@TropeHatComics]

Good to see you back in the comments, Tay!

[@jakfan09]

I work at a grocery store and am watching this on break lol

[@rf3471]

Good for you comrade

[@matthewfullmer4642]

I loved the persona of a dissatisfied employee on their way out. Great way to inject humor

[@Iknowtoomuchable]

Remember, kids: If you ever see someone shoplifting food, no you didn't.

[@JohnBoulden]

How could you tell anyway right? There is no 'correct' way to carry crap around a store. You see someone tuck a sandwich and coke into a bag you walk the other way

[@shakenbacon-vm4eu]

Yes. Esp baby stuff.

[@DavidCDrake]

Or shoplifting stuff they'll likely sell for food, rent, or other necessities.

[@ryshow9118]

I go full Ray Charles when inside a corporate store

[@jospinner1183]

The correct phrase is "If you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't." As the video mentioned, food is inefficient to steal because of its bulk. Generally only higher-priced, more compact items are stolen for resale. And the proceeds from those resales are almost always used for necessities, such as food, rent, utilities, medical bills, etc. The only type of shoplifting I would report is the theft of a firearm, ammunition, and/or potentially a bladed weapon. These thefts are much less likely to be committed for the purposes of survival, and instead are some of the ways firearms make it to the black market or get into the hands of people preparing to commit an actual crime. In addition, I would actively lie to protect someone stealing certain necessities, such as medicine or baby formula. Those people are victims of a capitalistic society that actively hates them for their poverty. The least they deserve is my protection from our corporate overlords.

[@alexpotanos6752]

I constantly stole when I worked at a grocery store, and it was never even close to 1% of the amount of food we would just throw away or dump out or let rot on the shelves.

[@snaaaake59]

I worked at a store where I would steal candy all the time when I didn't have any money and just eat that for lunch since I couldn't afford to walk down the street and get real food. Luckily I knew where all the cameras and their blind spots were, which happened to be right where all the candy was. Eating kit kats for lunch every day definitely got old though

[@thefaboo]

I worked as outside inventory for a while (I counted merchandise), and at grocery stores it was taken as a given that we would be 1% off what their official inventory was.

[@a_life_painted_with_color]

I worked at a grocery store too and the amounts of inventory we would throw out amazed me. I was poor back then as well. there wasn't a day that went by that the service deli didn't feed me lunch(unbeknownst to them) my new pet peeve is when you go to checkout and the teller asks if you'd like to round up your change and donate it to charity? They never say what charity. And who gets the tax write off in this case? Anyways I never got training on how to self checkout and I sure as shit don't get paid to checkout my own groceries so I can't be held responsible if I don't know how to scan items properly. I'm waiting for the day someone jacks themselves up on one of those machines and then sues the store. I don't know how but there's some really imaginative people out there

[@Ryan-wr8fx]

I worked at McDonald's for a few years and the amount of food I had to waste at the end of the night was astounding. Occasionally I was allowed to eat some but that depended on who was managing.

[@Cat-o-mancer]

@@a_life_painted_with_color It's kind of funny but more-so annoying every time I'm leaving Wal-mart. It's all self-checkout now because fuck people, right? 90% of the time there's a Boomer by the exit waiting to check my receipt if anything in my cart isn't bagged, even if it's not possible to bag (You can't fit a box of cereal in their tiny cheap-ass bags). As if not bagged meant I was trying to steal it or as if I couldn't have bagged something without scanning it if I was so inclined and simply avoided scrutiny. And what would they do if it's not on the receipt, call me out? "Oops... well, Bye!" I did work at Wal-mart back in the day as well and stole my lunch pretty much every day unless I thought someone might see me just grab it and walk straight to the break room. It started out as mostly lazy and not wanting to cut into my precious lunch break walking all the way to the back of the "Supercenter", clocking out, walking to the far side to get my food, walking to the front to check out, and then to the back again. I then recall my thought process being "they don't pay me enough and it's a drop in an ocean of their profits".

[@AsafKornboim]

"Why didn't you report that shoplifter?" "I thought I saw a gun, didn't know what he'll do when cornered, thought $200 sneakers weren't worth the time the store would be shut down due to shootout. And the bad PR. And the human lives. You think anyone was shopping the next day at that Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York or that Home Depot in Sacramento?"

[@olliemandias1112]

As a Buffalonian, I can confirm that that Tops was closed the next day. I'm not sure what they're going to end up doing with it. I know I'd never want to enter that building again, even if it was the closest grocery store. Hell, it is the closest store to my best bud. It was a sheer coincidence that he wasn't there that day.

[@SuaNam08]

I used to work at a crafts store, and there, the #1 stolen item was yarn. Old ladies on a fixed income would take them to knit things. The notion of alerting my boss about granny was laughable.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

Some heroes wear their capes on the front with an extra string around the waist.

[@olliemandias1112]

I get it.... knitting & crochet are expensive hobbies!

[@Davesknd]

I worked 4 weeks as a cashier at a retailer. We had regular shoplifting drills where I had to find all items a instructor in civilian clothes would 'steal'. Since I didn't catch enough things, I was let go at the end of the month. I hated the job so much

[@gogereaver349]

good riddance you are not hired to be law enforcement and they wonder why more and more of the workforce is leaving for independent work.

[@minecwaftcat4474]

I hate this world :(

[@wifiwitch7694]

being someone who's worked for various retail stores, big and small, since I was 17....this hits close to home. can't tell you how many employee meetings I've attended where we are "regretfully" told our hours will be getting cut due to higher shrink

[@cbrindle91]

Or how your "quarterly bonus" was heavily slashed because of "shrink," while management's bonus was unaffected...

[@justinbremer2281]

@@cbrindle91 If management doesn't get a bigger bonus for cutting costs by slashing the workers' bonuses :(

[@Brett_S_420]

Funny how they really don't want anyone to get over 40 a week no matter what.

[@JazzyFizzleDrummers]

When I worked at a grocery store we were encouraged to shrink things out. Our biggest source of shrink was our store manager ordering the entire freezer stock for a month because he didn't bother to ask the freezer department. They had in fact ordered it. Any guesses what we did with all that perfectly good food? If you guessed dumpster you'd be correct.

[@grimmgoosegoose216]

As a Former Big Blue Monopoly Worker... the self check outs are supposed to have 1 associate per 3-4 units. Most stores horribly understaff their self checks and the registers are absolute shit. Go when its busy and don't get anything that requires an associate override (alcohol/sharpies/etc) and as long as you are quick no one will notice you.

[@VSPhotfries]

I just "forget to scan" something in my cart, or get a little confused about which items in my hand I already scanned and which I didn't. Can't always hear the scanner beep when wearing headphones, anyway, so... Plausible deniability, too: If I get stopped, I look embarrassed ask if I can leave my cart with them to go back through to get whatever I missed. No hassle for the poor bastard at the door, no giving them shit - they aren't paid enough to deserve any and don't deserve it anyway - and I just look like an innocent guy who just goofed up. Don't be stupid and try it with big ticket items, either, just small stuff like scanning only two of the four soda packs on the bottom or forgetting the second bag of dog food or whatnot.

[@Leafeon56]

i regularly ring up expensive produce as bananas. Steak? Its a banana.

[@thefaboo]

Sharpies? Why Sharpies?

[@jzdude01]

Sharpies?????

[@jzdude01]

@@VSPhotfries realized recently I’ve been stealing grapes from my grocery store for a while prolly. It seems the scanner would beep, I would weigh the grapes, then it just change screens and I never noticed it said unregistered. Noticed it and a month or so later it was fixed. But p sure I just didn’t pay for grapes for over half a year.

[@jizzystardust9456]

In college, I "reclaimed" food from a well known food establishment and fed my fellow students through clubs and events. I got snitched on and had to do two days in jail. Still no regrets though, imperial capitalism is evil and we need to remember our humanity. Thanks for another eloquent video.

[@neoqwerty]

I hope whoever snitched on you ate week-old gas station sushi.

[@MRCKify]

What was your MO? How did you do it?

[@renegadecut9875]

For the record, I've never shoplifted, but I did accidentally almost take something without paying once. I hadn't slept the night before, and I needed to go to the supermarket to buy some soda to wake myself up for the day. I got all the way to my car before my brain kicked in, and I realized I skipped the step where I pay for the damn soda. I walked back in and paid. I don't think anyone noticed. This must have been almost twenty years ago. It occurred to me that even though I hadn't really done anything wrong and was just sleepy, it would have been really easy for an employee to call the police. Either that or a security guard who would eventually call the police himself. "I was tired" was the real reason, but it does sound like an excuse that the cops wouldn't necessarily believe.

[@MRCKify]

As a 13 year old, I thought someone had left their aviators hanging between the gas station sunglasses and candy rack and thought I'd scored a great pair of lost and found. I'd found so much other cool stuff in lost and founds at school and hotels. I looked back on it later and decided it was more likely the sunglasses had just lost their sales tag somewhere and I'd just walked off with them. Probably weighs less than the sins committed against self and loved ones...

[@flopsinator5817]

The retailer I used to work at would usually force the shoplifter to pay for the stolen item anyway. Only if you were a repeat offender or were particularly troublesome would the police be called. That said, I live in a civilised country where going to prison over a can of Redbull is close to impossible and where the poor have access to just enough welfare to get by.

[@MRCKify]

@@flopsinator5817 Where?

[@algreen8414]

When i was a kid my mom sent me to the store alot one day in particular my mind was tunnel vision on getting back to a game of BO2 so i grabbed all the groceries and ran out as fast as i could to hurry home (it was zombies online lol) when my mom asked for the change and i handed her the same 20$ she gave me her faced turned red asf

[@theforgetfulalchemist]

My heart breaks for the woman whose baby was killed by cops after shoplifting baby formula. Pro life until they're born and need to be fed right? ACAB

[@astrofuturism]

the hypocrisy

[@disneybunny45]

Wait what? How did that happen?

[@dave_riots]

Even they know they aren't pro life, lol. Typical Conservative obfuscation.

[@sourgreendolly7685]

@@disneybunny45 the baby was very intimidating

[@lightbluechucks]

that story broke me

[@digapygmy70]

My coworker once chased after a little kid for stealing a 25 cent piece of candy, I'm talking running him down, out the door and onto the sidewalk. The kid definitely wasn't older than 10, and my coworker was just like, "They've got to learn young!" I hated that guy, he was such a bootlicker and asshole.

[@trimytrim]

Worked with a guy like that once. He was known for chasing people out of the store and catching them. The last time he did it a kid grabbed a roll of tape that cost less than a dollar and ran out of the store. The guy of course chased after him but the kid ran straight to a group of guys who was literally waiting to get this guy so they beat the absolute fuck out of him and he ended up hospitalized. All he got for his boot licking was a massive hospital bill.

[@princessmarlena1359]

I bootlicker employees.

[@JoeLeone117]

He's right, stealing is bad for you when you get caught and everybody in the long run.

[@shipyufrenchsong]

​@@JoeLeone117 Wage theft is the greatest theft happening in the US. You care about theft? Advocate for unions and higher wages. Corporations steal from us everyday, they underpay us, they skirt around workplace safety, they demand exorbitant amounts of unnecessary physical labour which causes permanent damage to our bodies. WE SHOULD BRING HARM TO THEM.

[@gabrielbruce1977]

I think the guard at Staples last week was a friend of his, idk how else to explain her chasing me out

[@jadenicolesantiago7092]

Policing "shoplifting" is just another way management shifts their failures onto subordinates. It's not your fault that person stole, but corporate will fire you, overwhelm their remaining employees, and blame the sudden spike in price/dip in service on "increased theft"

[@ernie39]

and that "solution" from businesses seems so counterintuitive too; wouldn't having more eyes in a store deter theft (and vice versa)?? capitalism really prioritizes short-term profit in some shortsighted ways lmao

[@disneybunny45]

Okay so 0.47% of my income would be around $180 or $15 a month. In reality, that's nothing to me even though I have less than $1000 in savings. I would happily give that to someone who needs food or other essentials.

[@beylethdirons2160]

Hell, I give that much to folks asking for help with cardboard signs. It isn't much to me, and means a hell of a lot to them.

[@chatryna]

Good for you. Stealing from your own tummy to give to another tummy. The world has you by your ying yang.

[@robbinrobbin5582]

If you saw someone shoplifting, no you didn't. Honestly when shelves are absolutely stocked with food, most of it that will get thrown away if its not sold, why do people complain about very minor incidents of theft?

[@esbenm6544]

At my local grocery store, they use the entrance and all hall space up to the entrance for goods too. It's basically the honor system, and I've seen someone snag something to eat several times. I wouldn't dream of interfering with that. They clearly made the call that they make more than they lose from keeping some goods outside the store.

[@Awesomeninja54]

Cause boots are yummy, idk

[@maladjustedmoon5200]

For sure, I saw someone shoplifting at the Home Depot I worked at, and so I wandered over to the security guard and struck up a conversation about football to distract him haha

[@VSPhotfries]

If they wanted me to care about shoplifting they'd have to donate every single item they can to food banks before even thinking about tossing it in a dumpster (which is always locked for some reason, because god forbid someone STEALS THEIR PRECIOUS TRASH). If they did that I'd totally be anti-shoplifting, but they don't, so fuck 'em.

[@Parpyduck]

I'm hardly concerned for huge chain stores like Walmart or Nordstrom, but that "mom and pop" corner convenience owned by a local family serving my community that has weathered encroachment by a dozen 7-11s in their area, I know they don't have the corporate insurance and accounting dream teams to handwave the loss of hundreds of dollars a day away before losing hope and selling their community legacy to some huge company that is big enough to have "regional offices". It's all relative.

[@technopoptart]

so, i used to work at an asda/walmart and there were two people who worked security. after one of them tackled someone and got hurt both positions were closed and i, a cashier/greeter got a walkie and was told to keep an eye on and prevent walk-outs. i was still only paid what i was before i took the extra job and i was not allowed insurance coverage and when i did prevent a shoplifter from stealing a full trolly of alcohol my managers took full credit and preened as they tallied up the cost of the booze that was recovered while i had to get back to work. i was threatened into quitting by several of them a few months later so they wouldnt have to give me the mandatory insurance and holiday pay they owed me there is no limit to how far a corporation will go to take advantage of people in dire situations to keep even a few extra pennies

[@michimatsch5862]

I only ever acquired stuff through alternative means in the pandemic to get stuff for homeless people (poor student, so I could not afford to help with my money). I had one or two locations and one time the salesperson at the store straight up told me: " I'll be in the back for five minutes. I am to report people I see stealing but if I cannot see you doing it then I cannot report it. Not my fault they only have one employee in the entire store." Needless to say that shocked me a bit. I thought I was being so clever, haha. The solidarity still sticks with me to this day though.

[@vincentvangogodancer]

He probably just needed a bathroom break and was fed up.

[@Brett_S_420]

I did that at O'Reilly's. People need their car to run.

[@d48731]

When I was at my poorest, I had to shoplift feminine products. It was either steal it or suffer, so I stole it.

[@laceybabay1013]

This is genuinely so upsetting. I’m sorry you had to go through that. I absolutely would’ve done the same thing.

[@voxomnes9537]

@@theslippymaster I'd be more sympathetic if it was anything else, but you're right, the OP is tripping.

[@argylewarrior1]

shouldn't have to pay a pink tax anyway

[@imsmolandangery4274]

They should be free, not bleeding on everything is a public service!

[@technopoptart]

@@theslippymaster that's some fucking privilege you have there, mate. i worked a job once where i had about 20 quid a paycheck for groceries and amenities. i had to beg of tp and soap from my roomate and only had a phone because it cost my parents almost nothing to keep the line. i didnt go to hospital when i was sick, i didnt go anywhere on my days off unless the person i was with covered everything down to the cost of getting there and i would go multiple days at a time without eating my one alloted meal meal because something came up and i could not afford it. i even broke down in tears once because i collapsed from a combination of sickness and exhaustion on the kitchen floor and could not get back up for over a half hour simply from a lack of energy in my lower limbs to do so, i legit was scared i was not going to actually be able to ever stand again i was so badly messed up and so medically fragile. 100% if i had to buy pads on top of all that i would have not been able to. Op's story is entirely believable because it isnt difficult to have happen

[@HighFlyActionGuy]

I stopped stealing from walmart once I started making enough money to buy all of my food and cover my bills, which is also when I stopped shopping at walmart. They are the parasite.

[@Jerthanis]

I work in a grocery store and was trying to tell my coworkers that it's inhuman that we lock up the baby formula because it means we're most concerned about keeping food out of the mouths of poor babies. A coworker objected that it's being stolen in order to be sold, not stolen by mothers, and I said that A.) They can't know that, and B.) That means there's a secondary market of mothers who can barely afford grocery store prices. The point was made that sometimes drugs are cut with baby formula, and I kinda conceded that, but if I were more on the ball, I would have said that it'd be nice if drugs are getting cut that they would be getting cut with something we know is safe, and not laundry detergent or something like that. I tell coworkers all day every day to ignore shoplifters if they see them, and so far I've maybe convinced one person. It's tough.

[@mlb9999999]

Drugs are not getting cut with baby formula. That's an urban legend. It's more profitable to sell baby formula than to use it to cut drugs.

[@allanolley4874]

The question is is the locking up to reduce "shrinkage" loss, in which case what you says applies, it is a draconian measure to avoid a minor loss. I imagine it is just that. However, if it is to implement rationing and prevent the story just running out of formula all together it would be different. This seems less likely but if stores can run out of Toilet Paper in spring of 2020 who can say.

[@darkninjafirefox]

As a cashier, I will just give people stuff if it's too annoying to scan/weigh. I don't give a shit about what money my store makes. It doesn't trickle down to me at all

[@Vohlfied]

Local gas station, if I stop in late in the day and only want a slice of the ready-made pizza slices, they just wave me out the door : )

[@God_gundam36]

Having discourse that's "should we let a baby starve since the family can't afford to feed it" is peek capitalism

[@dave_riots]

Funniest thing is that the most adamant defenders of Capitalism claim to speak for the very children they allow to starve on the street

[@Anonymous-bi5pv]

"should we let this poor family die because they cant afford their scammy hospital bills"

[@crystallakatos652]

@@Emiliapocalypse shadowbanned accounts prolly from them being douchebags

[@lily-hx3qh]

​@@Emiliapocalypse often it's because the reply got deleted either by KZbin or by the commenter it is annoying for sure!

[@MrAsaqe]

Usually it's the KZbin Secret Police that nukes problematic comments

[@SkySong6161]

In sports, there's something that's called a "flop." It's when a foul is exaggerated or even outright fabricated in order to deceive a referee for the benefit of the flop-ee. (Getting penalties for the opposing team or benefits for your own. Not to be confused with "crying wolf" which is just making up an alarm for attention.) We really need a term for when companies do it, because they do it *all the time.* Like, to the point where I basically don't believe them any time they complain that some practice is "harmful for business." So what? You accidentally lost more money on accident in less than 5 seconds than some small countries make in 5 years. You're fine.

[@chatryna]

That's where critical thinking comes in.

[@fununclenerfs]

"You wouldn't download a car" "Uh, hell yes I would!"

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

I've got an external hard drive filled with mods for racing sims. I've got a bloody addiction to downloading cars. 😅

[@imjustthisgirlok]

Adding to the no snitching rule, just don't call the cops on any nonviolent crimes bc fucking cops can turn it violent in a second.

[@galactic85]

It's amazing how often people in this country default to "call the men with guns" when the slightest inconvenience happens.

[@sirrivet9557]

@@galactic85 it’s mostly because people still are a bit naïve and think cops might… I dunno use their knowledge and skills to actually solve a situation without making it worse. But the only skills cops have are violence and the only goal they have is protecting the upper class with other peoples safety as an afterthought

[@Sarahbaker333]

Personally, I’ve never shoplifted, never known anyone to, and never seen it happen. Corporations are so dramatic…. Maybe they should take more personal responsibility

[@WatchingBadTV]

Honestly the corporation shouldn't have dressed like that, it was asking for it

[@dimse_8066]

i shoplift. i need food.

[@kazumahazeuzumaki]

@Dimse, No, you don't. Sometimes you walk out forgetting to pay ;) Absolute accident. I didn't see anything.

[@WatchingBadTV]

@@dimse_8066 issa joke love. They are being funny.

[@typikal82]

I have, there now you know someone. I did it for fun a few times as a kid. As an adult these days: during my checkout, if someone fails to scan an item and I don't see it, then I didn't see anything.

[@dave_riots]

"Oh, a homeless mother of two took a $2 can of soup from that massive retail franchise that brings in millions of dollars per year? Let's raise hell!"

[@Bobylein1337]

Buut buuuut butttt if everyone did that!!11

[@mckernan603]

@@Bobylein1337 Yes... if everyone did that, or if only the strongest did that... turn on your brain

[@MrKaneShadow]

"They will never care about you, no matter how many boots you lick" Damn dude, you're not pulling any punches these days

[@KrazyZombieMan]

When I was younger, and homeless, I got arrested for this. I was stealing a $6 shirt, because the one I was wearing was full of holes. Upon arrival at the jail, I learned the company (K-Mart) was attempting to stick me with commercial burglary (a felony). Obviously that didn’t hold up in court, but they certainly went for it.

[@olliemandias1112]

The extra shitty thing is that you probably could have gotten away with it if your shirt looked newer... Employees will watch visibly homeless people like a hawk, even follow them around the store. Meanwhile, if you had lifted sooner (before there were many holes in your shirt), and/or more often (so you could rotate clothes enough to prevent holes), you'd have been under less scrutiny. Fucked up.

[@SoranMBane]

As a retail employee, I have mixed feelings about shoplifting. On one hand, I don't give a shit about the company bottom line, so if someone wants to snatch an item off the shelf, then all the power to them. But if someone attempts to shoplift in a way that would make an employee directly culpable in the eyes of management (for example, attempting to steal something an employee had to open a locked case to retrieve, in which case that employee could get in trouble for not ensuring that the item was purchased), then that is not okay. Don't put workers' jobs at risk, and don't make their jobs any more stressful than they already are. Solidarity runs both ways, so just stick to stealing what isn't locked up.

[@fredericksaxton9782]

Do people actually do that? I thought the employee stands there after they unlock it so they can relock it, do they not do that everywhere? Cause like if anyone is doing that that's also just dangerous on the shoplifters part, really foolish especially considering many things I see locked up are uneeded things like cards, collectables, and things like that. I just can't believe there are people who would actually take that risk.

[@VellusTerennia]

@@fredericksaxton9782 There's a few things that are locked up in most stores these days you might not have noticed if you aren't a parent. I'm talking about baby formula. If you have a new kid and you want baby formula that's more than just powdered milk you basically have to get it from the formula thats locked up. And yeah, we'll relock it after its unlocked, but depending on where the item is in the store, you might not be done shopping and we're not exactly responsible for following you throughout the store with the product.

[@mechanomics2649]

It could be argued that even in those situations described, the onus shouldn't be on the employee regardless.

[@hippocratesnoah8642]

I'm often tempted to shoplift steak. Because seriously, the price of beef is insanely inflated thanks to lobbyists. America produces so much bloody steak that just rots because beef lobbyists try their damnedest to inflate base prices in Washington. Just look at how dirt cheap bison meat was when it originally came back onto the market after bouncing back from extinction in the late 90's early 00's due to it initially not being regulated the same as beef. One could buy bison steaks for literally 1/4th the price of regular steaks. I don't shoplift it because I'm not that hard up, I just don't buy it. Though I'm regularly tempted to tuck that T-bone into my belt... Shame I can't carry a purse...

[@seungminmakesmestay]

That's a fair point. Although, in all the times that I've had to buy something behind a locked case, the employee will also walk me to the register and I have to pay for it right there, even if I'm not done shopping.

[@rmbull28]

As an anarchist and a recovering retail manager, I have to say how accurate this is. The limits on shrink losses are not inposed to limit losses, but to limit connectivity between the corporate employees and their community.

[@MRCKify]

Huh?

[@Brett_S_420]

@@MRCKify Basically it makes your employees have an adversarial relationship with your customers because management can act like their made up numbers they get handed down actually matter, when in fact it is giving management a way to crack down on employees and helps to keep the customer and employees from working with each other.

[@rmbull28]

@@Brett_S_420 Exactly. The poorest are seen as adversaries. The employee is conditioned to side with management and owners, when they have more in common with the shoplifter. Towards the end of my career, when I had access to accurate running shrinkage data , if it was below the threshold the company expected, I encouraged staff to steal enough to just keep it within acceptable losses.

[@Advent3546]

I have worked at a retail store for almost 6 years now. I will tell you that if you see someone shoplifting, no you didn't.

[@deletedTestimony]

This didn't even touch on the concept of food theft in minimum wage type restaurants, I once watched a man get fired for eating a single pickle slice at McDonalds while they throw away hundreds of burger patties and chicken nuggets per day

[@cryptbeast3222]

Man, getting fired for slipping a bite of the worst part.

[@loredragonart]

You should never feel guilty about taking a single coin from a dragons horde. They will never even know it’s gone

[@marsfeathers]

this goes hard thanks 4 sharing

[@Lunari_wolph]

I used to work security at Target and I 100% agree with everything mentioned. They put pressure and blamed us for loss even though we were under staffed. Shoplifting is totally OK and victimless when done at large chains. I even do it now lol.

[@princessmarlena1359]

I’ve done it when I worked at Turdget and Party Shitty.

[@reidoha1066]

I remember once around 15 years ago I was working at a grocery store & saw someone walk right out the front door with a cart full of meat. I wasn’t the only employee to witness it. Someone else told the store manager, who then pulled it up on the cameras. She chewed my ass out because I was seen on camera noticing the person walking out the front & not do anything to stop them. I was getting paid something like $7.50-9.25 an hour. Like I was going to risk my potential safety for their bottom line. Anyway, that store went out of business a few years ago. 😅

[@gogereaver349]

once there out the door you cant stop them anyways.

[@nyastalgiakitten]

"Sorry but the $7.50 you pay me doesn't let me replace my glasses, so no I really didn't see them"

[@ChairmanRofImao]

I was staying in San Antonio during early '17, coming from abroad and living in a hotel. I remember one report from the local news I saw one day while browsing the television. Some 19 year old was caught shoplifting baby diapers on a supermarket and either some bystander or a cop (don't remember which, but probably the former) stopped him by shooting him to death. The sheer tragedy of it all stuck with me. They didn't go into details on the story of this kid, but it's easy to draw a picture 1) I imagine this kid got his teenager girlfriend pregnant. and, 2) now had to provide and had no money or a job. 3) Opting for a criminal path, he took just what he needed for the baby, he wasn't mugging people. 4) Someone decided to stop this dangerous felon, got involved and 5) gave him a death sentence, and finally 6) the mother whoever she was just lost her partner at an important junction. It was like a whole Dostoevsky tragedy waiting to be written.

[@AndySomething]

When I worked in a large chain supermarket as a check-out employee during covid I was disgusted by some of my colleagues fervour to snitch on shoplifters. Absolutely zero class solidarity.

[@samswift102]

Probably did as a way to add a measure of excitement to their soul crushing job, but yeah they still suck

[@sirrivet9557]

People are violently taught since they are young that theft is bad. It’s a hard belief to break if you’ve never been exposed to any sort of socialist theory. But at the very least I see less employees caring about shoplifting, if only out of a “not my problem” attitude.

[@expfcscruffy]

When i was in college i shoplifted condoms and limes. Don't feel bad about that at all.

[@sepevans]

What a combination😂

[@SilverMKI]

That sounds like a painful experience...

[@nichtschwert3307]

For years I have been staring at the empty gun closet in my house, labelled "pro-shoplifting arguments". Thank you for finally filling up this arsenal.

[@scratch907amerson9]

As someone who did briefly work for Walmart at one point, we were instructed not to interfere if we saw someone shoplifting. Doing so would make the company potentially liable for any injuries suffered by us or the shoplifter, which wasn't worth it for Walmart - or at least that was the logic as it was explained to me at the time.

[@ariekanibalie]

What 'radicalised' me was my time working retail in a 'Duty Free' airport shopping centre. One of the shops at the gates sold perfumes and the like, and people would steal stuff every day because the shop was wide open with no alarm tags on anything, plus we were always understaffed. For whatever reason, the company didn't even want to install fake alarm gates as a deterrent, so clearly they weren't paying any of the stolen goods themselves. But my supervisor (there would always be two of us during a shift) took this to heart and decided that, during peak business, when planes were boarding and even two people behind the cash register meant lines of 10 or more people constantly, she would personally guard the perfume section, while I was allowed to deal with an increasingly volatile crowd of customers having to wait in line for 10 minutes all by myself. I'm pretty sure she almost burst into tears once at discovering she hadn't been able to save all those wonderful Burberry, CK and whatever perfumes, despite her best efforts.

[@nicholaszacharewicz693]

Having worked at a few grocery stores, this video really takes me back. It's a great way to talk about how overblown losses due to shoplifting are.

[@Nilnot]

When I worked for Dollar General, a huge chunk of the training was a presentation about shrinkage. They told us to be paranoid about customers but they insisted their employees were their biggest source of shrinkage and made a big point about how much they would watch us and it was just a really messed up atmosphere

[@olliemandias1112]

The point about how someone who lifts luxury goods are usually doing it to sell to buy food and other necessities.... Mindblowing. I honestly can't believe I'd never thought of it that way before... It seems so obvious, but somehow it had completely eluded me that it's really hard to lift enough food to get by, compared to little electronics or whatever. I used to have a dichotomy of, like "excusable" shoplifting (necessities) vs "inexcusable" shoplifting (luxury items), but that really opened my eyes. Thanks!

[@animalxINSTINCT89]

Holy shit I'm so happy this is a video. I remember working at a Kohl's for 3.5 years and one day this one elderly white lady (who we all knew was using our permissive return policy to scam the store out of Kohl's cash coupons) got caught by security trying to shoplift a picture frame in the bottom of her cart. Now, this lady was notorious among the staff for being a massive fucking Karen, so we were all VERY happy when they brought down the axe on her. They took her to the back for about an hour, then they let her go with a ban. ON THE SAME EXACT DAY, a few hours later two black teenage girls got caught trying to steal bathing suites or something like that. Same security guys brought these girls to the back, detained them for 3 hours until the police showed up to put them in handcuffs to take them away. Old white lady gets a warning, black teenagers get put through the legal system. The store knows which person can fight them in court

[@oligarchytalks]

A little off topic, but I can definitely relate. I used to work for Barnes & Noble and there was a strict "NO SLEEPING" policy in the store(s). I remember my store manager loved accosting the "common folk" with her quintessential line, "Sir/Mam, no sleeping in my store! This is a place of business not a flop house!" Well, one day my coworker saw a woman wearing a business suit with a brief case sleeping in one of the big comfy arm chairs with a sleep mask nonetheless. She reported this to our store manager who exclaimed, "Oh no, I can't have this!", before abruptly beginning to stomp her way toward the sleeping woman. She (my manager) wasn't even over there two minutes before she returned and told my coworker and me not to disturb her! So, let me get this straight, the random, everday people who patronize your store who may happen to doze off while sitting at a table reading a book get accosted while the "executive" is allowed to use your place of business as her private motel? Got it!

[@Maleketh42]

As a long-time retail worker, I feel that this is video that many of my coworkers and managers would benefit from watching.

[@Phono_Wizard]

I laugh sometimes at how seriously some employees take shoplifting. If only the average person knew how much corporations steal from society. Thank you for spreading the word about how little shoplifting really impact these retailers.

[@Gizzy411]

The vast amount of loss in a store, especially a chain, is more related to process failures where things are not checked in or checked out properly causing them to be lost somewhere in the store or supply chain, miscounted, or uncounted. The second biggest part of shrink is employee theft where an employee in the supply chain takes a few pieces off the top everyday of their employment. Then you have shoplifting, the biggest portion of that are crime rings that systematically shoot for the most expensive things and steal those. The teenager, random guy, or desperate mom is literally so inconsequential that it’s not even worth prosecuting and likely costs more than the item that they stole and not worth getting someone killed. No snitching is the golden rule.

[@czxr_8]

If you need anymore reason to shut up and mind your business remember this, when someone steals from you or you're in a dire financial situation, these companies will not lift a finger to help you. And if they do, it's always at the expense of your fellow workers

[@deepfriedchocobo]

So basically people bad so stealing good?

[@mlorencetti1]

Even if workers shouldn't bother with shoplifters, in my country security guards are known to be absurdly violent. More than once people were beaten to death because they stole food from big chains.

[@carltonpenaloza1395]

Which country?

[@fredericksaxton9782]

Wow, they sound absolutely evil. Imagine beating people to death because they needed food, how does one like that sleep at night??

[@apophis2129]

Hmm, sounds like you guys have oil...

[@carltonpenaloza1395]

Saudi Arabia 🤔 or another Muslim country?

[@elguerobasado]

Good

[@QueenSoledad]

I work retail. If you want to steal that’s your business. They don’t pay me enough to snitch

[@kibbo86]

Why do you want to talk about shoplifting? I didn't see anything. In fact, I wasn't even there

[@vojislavl6665]

My girlfriend works in a supermarket and has said she noticed people stealing. Yet she always plays dumb and looks the other way. She even told off her friend who did catch someone trying to steal. Basically the principles of what was said in the video is something we have both agreed on for a long time. Not to mention the company she works at underpays her, so she doesn't care if people steal from them. She loves it.

[@KodiaxeMusic]

Remember, shop local, steal corporate.

[@Estradiol_Gaming]

I disagree. Even small business owners exploit the labor of their employees

[@diddleydoo9773]

Jesus. I just calculated what 0.047% of my annual salary was and that’s a grand total of 7 dollars and some change

[@sobertillnoon]

The "you wouldn't want someone to steal from you" argument is such crap. I've had my CAR stolen from me and I still don't think shoplifting is a problem.

[@fllnthblnks9681]

I’ve had bikes, phones, earbuds, etc stolen from me. I’ve never been upset for more than an hour. It’s literally just the immediate inconvenience.

[@VSPhotfries]

I understand I don't want to get my property stolen, but I've never had someone steal a tiny fraction of my inventory of food that was going to end up in the dumpster tomorrow from me, because, you know, I'm not a retail store that failed to sell perishable goods in time. These stores are trippin with that comparison.

[@naikigutierrez4279]

@@fllnthblnks9681 I had my cellphone, my backpack with my camera and my used pajamas, and my tablet stolen. I'm still kinda pissed about it, but I wouldn't oppose shoplifting because of that.

[@mechanomics2649]

It's almost like a corporation and the average human being are two completely different things.

[@queerpossumtrash5852]

Bruh, this is like stealing a dime from them versus a whole paycheque from you. Not equivalent at all

[@TheNotoriousBTG]

17:56 I worked at Walt Disney World, at a resort that was part of Disney's Vacation Club (basically its a Disney timeshare resort). In our training, we were trained to welcome visitors with, "Welcome Home!".

[@tabularasa0606]

If you're home, you can't shoplift. Everything in your home belongs to you, obviously.

[@cryptbeast3222]

Disney World is way too cultish for me.

[@rolandguiscard]

In my experience, whenever a rich person tells you they're upset about someone stealing from them, really it's just they hate those people, and want to justify whatever horrible thing they are going to do to them. At the end of the day people are basically honest and theft is primarily used to justify whatever an asshole was planning on doing anyway. Besides, all the real theft is done by people rich enough and well connected enough to know they won't suffer any consequences. Just ask anyone who's had anything stolen by a rich kid out to have fun with it.

[@TheSonicSpud]

I worked at a grocery store for over 4 years in the frozen foods and dairy section. We threw a TON of food directly in the garbage for a few reasons. 1. My boss would order something that was "on sale" but there was no demand in the store. One time he ordered an entire pallet stacked over 6 feet of pumpkin ice cream for the season... no one bought it or even knew it was there. It sat in the freezer for over 2 years and took up space which was very limited and made our job more dangerous as we had to climb over it at times to get that we needed. Eventually due to a regular freeze/thaw cycle (that happens for various reasons all tied to the freezer being overstocked to begin with) we had to throw it all out because the packaging was damaged. 2. Very poor planning for demand. Once or twice a month we would throw out a few carts of product, mainly eggs. Us lowly stock people would have fun with it though by wiping ever individual egg against the wall of the garbage compactor. It was the most fun I ever had at that job. But we were not just throwing eggs out by the cartoon, but by the box, roughly 24 dozen eggs per box. There were various other instances of old carts with shitty wheels contributing to gallons of milk smashing themselves on the isle, poor scheduling leading to rushed outcomes and damaged packaging. All the time. My point is that stores like that rob themselves and its worse because the food is just wasted at the end of the day. They never think to donate the eggs that are about to expire because that would be an admission of wrong doing, a self-awareness that their ego cannot afford. While I was working there, around 6 employees were fired for stealing from the and sneaking product out the back door. The back door kept ajar all day because employees would enter the building and leave through it all day. It was the closest door to the parking lot. There are also no cameras or security whatsoever. They made it as easy to steal from that place as possible and it was still quite rare. This was a 7.25 per hour job btw.

[@andrewboyko8304]

It's getting more and more jarring to see old school cops like in the "customers first" section that aren't cosplaying an occupying force wrapped in operator gear.

[@jessicatatum7769]

It's always struck me as incredibly ironic that the heroes in famous stories like Aladdin, Robin Hood, Les Misérables etc. are thieves. Like its an archetype; the virtuous thief. A big part of endearing us to these characters is the freaking moral of the story suggesting that class solidarity is important and that theft is often way over policed and usually done with a good reason. Why do we have this figured out in fiction, but not in real life??

[@S.D.323]

With Les Miserables I think you could even say jean Valjean would be doing something wrong if he didn't steal for his starving family

[@witchofskye1961]

I worked at a Kroger for a couple years and we really only ever talking about shoplifting as something of a joke, like sometimes we would find the evidence of it and find it funny. The best was when one of my coworkers found a half empty carton of eggs, which seems like a bad idea. More seriously though, companies like Kroger tell their employees not to stop shoftlifters anyways, paying your hospital bills if you get hurt far exceeds the cost of whatever would get stolen to them. The companies really don't care about it. The only anti-shoplifting thing they wanted us to do was to try to greet and be friendly to as many customers as possible so that they feel like they have been noticed and that they are visible. In grocery stores, the amount of stuff lost to food simply expiring was exponentially greater than the amount stolen. I know, I had to throw it away. Honestly, we should be able to donate some of the absurd amount of waste, but nope, that wasn't allowed. And don't get me started on the real problem for employees, self-centered and entitled customers who thought that they were better than you.

[@MRCKify]

If some of a donation was tainted, would Kroger have legal liability?

[@cryptbeast3222]

@@MRCKify No. There was a law passed specifically for that reason. You can't sue for donated food. Most of the time it's just a, "you aren't buying it so you can't have it" thing.

[@thomascullinan6319]

I remember working over the summer as a part-time maintenance guy at a cub foods. My main job was usually bringing carts from the parking lot back into the store. One day a guy ran out with one of my co-workers and my boss chasing him. They yell at me to grab him, I do, and security takes the man away. I never even found out what he had stolen. My boss pats me on the back and the next day he gives me two scratch-off coupons as a reward for employee excellence. Both of them wound up being for $5 salads. My boss yelled at me to perform an action outside of my duties, hurt someone who was probably just trying to scrape by, and my reward was a pat on the back and $10 worth of food that I hate. I was proud of myself at the time, but looking back it was such bullshit. I'll never work retail again if I can help it, but if I'm ever forced to, I'll never report or chase down a shoplifter ever again.

[@Dylan-xe3we]

Wow, that's a good one! I am definitely gonna awkwardly work the "you have more in common with the shoplifter than those he hurts" into every conversation now.

[@josephsager9425]

I know you were going for this whole "early 90's" motif, but I'm surprised you didn't include that recent NYPD tweet about retrieving $1,000 worth of "stolen" baby supplies. Like, seriously, someone was just trying to take care of their fuckin kid and the NYPD was like, "fuck that."

[@realitypoet]

I’m extremely anti-confrontational and have a lot of social anxiety so I hardly talk to people I don’t know let alone fight… but I the one time I did was when I saw someone calling the cops on someone who took a few boxes of aspirin from a Wallgreens. Made them hang up and kept them busy yelling at me until the guy had time to get far enough away. I was ready to get physical but didn’t come to that if he hadn’t hung up.

[@NikkiLayne]

Today is my birthday, and I had the pleasure of waking up to a notification telling me that there's a new Renegade Cut. Thank you :)

[@stephanieblakley3549]

I had a boss at a failing department store who took a punch to the face in an attempt to stop a shoplifter. couldn’t be me. my team got reprimanded because apparently the shoplifter had walked by our area and we didn’t notice. whoops 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@reno.corona]

I worked in retail for 12 years. In all that time, I NEVER approached shoplifters, no matter how much I was hassled by my supervisors. If you're wrong about the person shoplifting, and you confront them, you are likely to have a complaint lodged against you. It's likely you will get a lecture and a write-up for doing what you were told to do. If the person IS shoplifting, and you confront them, you put yourself at risk of a physical altercation (either that, or the perp just denies it anyway) and it STILL comes back on you! No stolen property, job or money is worth compromising your life or health for.

[@amazingonion]

And if someone's card gets declined just void the transaction and say "oh wait it worked" and go about your day.

[@indigopines]

Unfortunately, that could get the employee written up. I was about a dime off how much money was supposed the be in the till and that got me written up. Fortunately, it was already my last day.

[@shroomyesc]

Uhhhh that's not a great idea lmfao if you have any kind of "sign in" at your registers (any chain retail probably does) you can get fired for that pretty quickly

[@ravenderose]

I’m so glad you pointed out the truth with shoplifting. They use it as a tactic to blame people who are struggling instead of work on either preventative measures (like requiring ID at Costco) or affordable prices (target used to be affordable but now stores like cvs will give you a better bargain for essentials)

[@toppersundquist]

Remember: If you see a shoplifter, no you didn't.

[@loredragonofftheclock]

Locked eyes with a shoplifter by accident at Walmart just a month ago. Just went about my business. He was stealing Yugioh cards man. Wtf do I care? 😅

[@Leafeon56]

A kid was killed in florida two weeks ago for shoplifting two packs of pokemon cards and a frozen pizza. The most senseless death. You're right, who tf cares.

[@mechanomics2649]

I stole Pokemon cards a few times when I was a kid myself. Somehow never got caught. The more I'd learned about these massive corporations, the less bad I felt.

[@lovelylesbian5135]

Ngl they can be expensive sometimes and who knows they could have been for their kid

[@Vohlfied]

I hear the punisment for lifting a Winged Dragon of Ra is steep.

[@lululrouge6]

Watched this initially this morning at my job, as a result I got to re-explain to my assistant how little shoplifting cuts into the bottom line especially when compared to accounting mistakes.

[@ElQueNoSale]

never snich and never talk to the police

[@pocketsand6776]

13:37 got a big chuckle out of me, it IS worse. Love these educational video edits that skew their intended purpose, they're superior to the originals and genuinely useful for us retail workers. Keep it up RC, sending love from Perth WA

[@ShadoFXPerino]

Coming soon to a retail job description soon: "You're also a security guard"

[@MediumChungus223]

I love the training video aesthetic! I've worked retail for 7 years and watched so many of these stupid things that it feels majorly cathartic to see one thats actually based.

[@iamcarpetpython]

I can't help but imagine most merchandise is just damaged and misplaced. Stuff in Walmart strewn about, no longer in new condition, refrigerated food abandoned in isles. If one egg in a dozen is cracked, the whole pack gets thrown out.

[@VellusTerennia]

about the egg thing, they're more likely to cut the box in half and put it in the discount zone for sale than throw it all out tbh

[@cryptbeast3222]

At least a good 1/20th of the product in all trucks gets crushed, cracked or shaken around too much. Also keep in mind whenever there's an extreme weather event, like a heatwave or a blizzard, it will often trash the quality of entire trucks worth of product. Gotta throw it all away.

[@DMSR76]

LMAO @ the "mind your f-in business/ stop snitching" part. This turned my morning around. Great video.