It is not Mrs. HM's job to catch a possible thief. She has no training in apprehending scofflaws. She does, however, have 28 years of teaching experience that supplies her with the skills to detect some shady shenanigans.
Tuesday, I got in line at the maze which meanders through last-minute-purchase racks at Orb K. There was only one clerk working, so I stood among the gum and candy and jerky, waiting my turn. Four people were ahead of me. A gal at the counter, trying to buy cigarettes with a discount. A man with a soda and a $30 lottery ticket in his back pocket. A guy with a soda and candy. A high school kid with a 44 oz fountain soda.
As I stepped up to the entry to the maze, two high school girls were walking towards it. I noticed, because I figured they were faster than me, and would make it to the line first. But wait! As they approached, the Kid With Soda turned to look at them. I figured they might be together. Upon his glance, the two girls veered away from the maze, and WALKED OUT THE DOOR!
What in the Not-Heaven??? You do not pre-pay at Orb K. They each had THREE fountain sodas, looking to be 32 or 44 oz. They had one in each hand, and another tucked into the crook of their elbow, against their side.
Even sketchier, Kid With Soda then wormed his way past the guy with soda and candy, and bellied up to the counter where there is a self-pay scanner. He set his ONE 44 oz soda on the contraption, then put his card into the scanner. How odd. He was waiting for a while, then when the girls went past me, he stepped up to pay for ONE soda.
Is it just me? Or does it seem like these gals were walking out with six sodas, and not paying a cent? They were nowhere near that self-scanner when I came in and got in line in the maze. They were over at the soda fountain.
Not my monkey(s), not my circus. I was not about to say anything.
I am an honest person; so, I am amazed at the ingenuity shady people have in their illegal pursuits. Having owned a business and having caught a few thieving employees, I realize the most honest seeming people can fool you.
ReplyDeleteWe were not an inventory business. We caught an employee very slyly stealing from petty cash using old post office receipts for stamps from previous months, tearing the date portion off the bottom of the receipt.. A shop employee selling scrap metal for cash at a recycling plant. A bookkeeper using pre signed checks to write herself extra payroll checks.
Another employee used receipts for items paid by check to local businesses. She would run copies of the invoices for smaller amounts and cash that amount out if petty cash, when it had been paid thru accounts payable. That same employee was in charge if receiving cash from a local business for small job items. She would throw away our invoice and keep the cash. We were, for the most part, not a cash business. So, it was handled differently as a sale.
It occurred to me while reading your post…who drinks a 44 oz. drink?… that it would be so easy to put any number of small items (waterproof, of course) in one of those cups and fill it, pay for it and walk out.
For every person who gets caught, you know there are many more that get away with it.
Like you, I would not insert myself into a situation like that.
Pudge450,
DeleteNow you have reminded me of other stealing incidents! I'll probably do a post on them, rather than put it here, where the comments keep jumping around and deleting themselves.
I used to drink a 44 oz Diet Coke every day, heh, heh, until I spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia, and never re-developed my taste for it. Just a 12 oz can of Shasta Diet Cola if enough for me now! But I never thought of what could be stuffed into those big cups!
Stealers gonna steal! Not my monkey, not my circus. They were taking advantage of the long line, and the clerk being preoccupied.
I wouldn't say anything either, it isn't worth getting beaten up in the parking lot at some later date. I did catch a few shoplifters in the supermarket while working checkout though. One not-so-bright young man tried to shuffle out past other customers with a pair of shoes held just under his coat, but I saw them and asked was he going to pay for them. He said yes but had to get the money from his car. I said I'd hold the shoes until he got back. He never came back.
ReplyDeleteRiver,
DeleteWell, if they were smart, they wouldn't be shoplifting! Nice catch!