Growing Retail Theft: "Dick's Shrinkage"

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Buff

Costco has been doing this for decades. I'm surprised it wasn't already a thing at most big box stores.

And it's super annoying. There's a line to get out and the person at the front has kids, so the Costco receipt checker has to draw a smiley face and take their sweet time doing so. Yes, I realise how much of a curmudgeon this makes me sound like, but come on...

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Slava

And it's super annoying. There's a line to get out and the person at the front has kids, so the Costco receipt checker has to draw a smiley face and take their sweet time doing so. Yes, I realise how much of a curmudgeon this makes me sound like, but come on...

Thought I heard my Costco grievance pager go off. My big one is when someone enters the store, and after showing their membership card, stops, their elbows propped up on their cart in the middle of the aisle to put their card back in their purse, blocking everybody else from getting through the entrance.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Thought I heard my Costco grievance pager go off. My big one is when someone enters the store, and after showing their membership card, stops, their elbows propped up on their cart in the middle of the aisle to put their card back in their purse, blocking everybody else from getting through the entrance.

I loathe those people, and I so badly want to just ram them with the cart. I mean, we all know the drill here, and surely you can just duck into an aisle out of the way if putting your card away is that big of a deal to you. A close second are the people who park their cart in the middle of the aisle and then stand in the otherwise open part to do their shopping so that no one can go by.

People are just so inconsiderate.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Thought I heard my Costco grievance pager go off. My big one is when someone enters the store, and after showing their membership card, stops, their elbows propped up on their cart in the middle of the aisle to put their card back in their purse, blocking everybody else from getting through the entrance.

These people also pay for their coffee and then before leaving the till to the waiting spot must immediately get the credit card back in the wallet, zipper all the way around, and then struggle to stuff that fully into the purse and fight the crappy zipper to get it closed before leaving the till. Oh and while they're there holding up the line for another two minutes they might as well make chit chat and get into something that keeps them lingering even longer.

These are also the same people that do that with their ID at the gate at an airport.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

These people also pay for their coffee and then before leaving the till to the waiting spot must immediately get the credit card back in the wallet, zipper all the way around, and then struggle to stuff that fully into the purse and fight the crappy zipper to get it closed before leaving the till. Oh and while they're there holding up the line for another two minutes they might as well make chit chat and get into something that keeps them lingering even longer.

These are also the same people that do that with their ID at the gate at an airport.

Airport issues go way beyond ID. The people who cannot grasp what's involved at security are the worst. Yes, you will have to take off your belt and empty your pockets, and possibly take off your shoes, and put them in the bin. You should be totally prepared for this. Yes, there are always people holding up the line who act like this is some totally unexpected intrusion and have no ability to efficiently remove these items and put them into a plastic bin.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Slava

I loathe those people, and I so badly want to just ram them with the cart. I mean, we all know the drill here, and surely you can just duck into an aisle out of the way if putting your card away is that big of a deal to you. A close second are the people who park their cart in the middle of the aisle and then stand in the otherwise open part to do their shopping so that no one can go by.

People are just so inconsiderate.

Pull in front of the person at the entrance and stop right in front of (and blocking) the laggard to check out the large items displayed there. In the aisle, gently push their cart out of the way.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Just had a team of 3 rip me off for almost $3k of fragrances last night

I hope they get caught.

This is BS.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I hope they get caught.

This is BS.

they won't.
especially when you can put on a hat and a facemask and you'll never get identified.

the social contract is breaking down.

I think about stealing from stores often. I haven't done it, but am ashamed that I've gone from being disgusted at the thought to justifying it under certain circumstances.
and I admit as the rich consolidate more and more wealth, and a greater number of people have less and less, I don't care if they're stolen from. I feel bad for the Street Pharmacist, but someone steals a TV from wal-mart or $100 of meat without hurting anyone? whatever.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by blankall

Airport issues go way beyond ID. The people who cannot grasp what's involved at security are the worst. Yes, you will have to take off your belt and empty your pockets, and possibly take off your shoes, and put them in the bin. You should be totally prepared for this. Yes, there are always people holding up the line who act like this is some totally unexpected intrusion and have no ability to efficiently remove these items and put them into a plastic bin.

You know how they replaced the table at security with the automated bins and the 4 stalls to do your task? I can't believe that every single time I'm in line multiple times the stalls open up and people just stand in line waiting for the closest stall to open up. Just fricken dense. A hole in the floor should open up dropping them down to do community service unloading baggage from planes before being allowed on a flight.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

they won't.
especially when you can put on a hat and a facemask and you'll never get identified.

the social contract is breaking down.

I think about stealing from stores often. I haven't done it, but am ashamed that I've gone from being disgusted at the thought to justifying it under certain circumstances.
and I admit as the rich consolidate more and more wealth, and a greater number of people have less and less, I don't care if they're stolen from. I feel bad for the Street Pharmacist, but someone steals a TV from wal-mart or $100 of meat without hurting anyone? whatever.

Sure, people stealing food to eat is easy to justify. That’s not the issue though. These are mobs of people stealing all kinds of things and it’s not about feeding themselves or providing for their family in that sense.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Just had a team of 3 rip me off for almost $3k of fragrances last night

People gotta eat. Or something.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Slava

Sure, people stealing food to eat is easy to justify. That’s not the issue though. These are mobs of people stealing all kinds of things and it’s not about feeding themselves or providing for their family in that sense.

His desire to see people stolen from aside, this part of his post is important - as the rich consolidate more and more wealth, and a greater number of people have less and less - This is what will lead to societal breakdowns and that's what this growing, organized theft falls under.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, society starts to crumble. What you're seeing here is just the beginning of what's coming.

[iggy_oi]

This is where conspiracy theorists really let society down. They should be coming up with stories about how online retailers are paying to send these hired thieves into brick and mortar stores in an effort to drive them out of business and leave people no other options but to buy things through them.

[CliffFletcher]

The poor aren’t getting poorer, and the great majority of poor people do not steal. Crime is more strongly associated with social breakdown and chaotic upbringings than with poverty. You can go to very poor parts of the world where crime rates are low, because people still have strong social cohesion.

Pretty good odds the guys who ripped off Street Pharmacist were not poor people driven to stealing. They’re likely predatory, low-IQ young men who want the good things in life (booze, drugs, sunglasses, playstations, prostitutes) without having to work a real job to get them. A lot of young men steal for the same reason they rape - they want things but they’re too dumb, lazy, or malicious to get them the way non-criminals get them.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The poor aren’t getting poorer

So you’re saying the poor are getting richer?

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by iggy_oi

So you’re saying the poor are getting richer?

There’s another option.

[monkeyman]

All of this theft ultimately hurts the poor more than anyone. Prices increase, stores in high crime areas close, people in those areas lose their jobs, investment in those communities dries up...
Anyone justifying this isn't seeing the whole picture.

[iggy_oi]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

There’s another option.

Stagnating then?

I guess that means they’re all seeing their incomes rise with the rate of inflation. What a relief.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

they won't.
especially when you can put on a hat and a facemask and you'll never get identified.

the social contract is breaking down.

I think about stealing from stores often. I haven't done it, but am ashamed that I've gone from being disgusted at the thought to justifying it under certain circumstances.
and I admit as the rich consolidate more and more wealth, and a greater number of people have less and less, I don't care if they're stolen from. I feel bad for the Street Pharmacist, but someone steals a TV from wal-mart or $100 of meat without hurting anyone? whatever.

Steal basic necessities, sure. There might be situations where I would look the other way.

TVs are not that (and don't have great resell value since they're so commonplace).

Someone stole an electric leisure vehicle from me last year, without the charger that has a proprietary connector piece - like what a ####ing waste of a theft. I'd prefer they'd have just taken money and cleared out my pantry of food if they were desperate than take something that was a fun past time for me that would be rendered useless after the charge is drained.

I have a hard time sympathizing with dumb thieves who steal #### they don't actually need or can't easily pawn off, but ####s over the victim nevertheless. At that point it's just stealing for the act of it without any kind of usefulness or point. But I guess asking them to be more calculated is kind of a useless axe to grind when these individuals aren't great at using their noggins to begin with.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

The poor aren’t getting poorer, and the great majority of poor people do not steal. Crime is more strongly associated with social breakdown and chaotic upbringings than with poverty. You can go to very poor parts of the world where crime rates are low, because people still have strong social cohesion.

Pretty good odds the guys who ripped off Street Pharmacist were not poor people driven to stealing. They’re likely predatory, low-IQ young men who want the good things in life (booze, drugs, sunglasses, playstations, prostitutes) without having to work a real job to get them. A lot of young men steal for the same reason they rape - they want things but they’re too dumb, lazy, or malicious to get them the way non-criminals get them.

It doesn't have to be one or the other. I would argue that a big part (maybe the biggest part) of the social breakdown is the ever-increasing chasm between rich and poor, the growing number of poor and the shrinking middle-class.