You have got to be kidding me!!

[LiLRedCV]

I believe this woman ordered her sandwiches from the deli inside this store, not just pulled them off a refrigerated shelf and started scarfing. (Our Safeway has one and you can either pay right then, or pay at the front registers - I always pay right then so I don't forget 'cuz I know I'm going to get sidetracked while shopping and may not remember!) It could've very well been an honest mistake as this family claims.

Store policy should make it where everyone pays BEFORE they walk away with those meals so this doesn't happen tho'. I know that's not always convenient for the customers who may be writing a check for their purchases either, but this way both consumer and store are protected against stupid things like this.

I definitely agree the store manager and police overreacted to this mess. As someone else stated, they offered to pay - store should've let them, written up a report if so inclined - and the police could've just given them a ticket for a misdemeanor and a court appearance date. The other thing the police would've done is called in their names/ID's in to check for potential warrants and previous bad acts. If there were none? It calls for a more lenient way to handle things. If the rap sheet is long? Well, then these actions were probably warranted then.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
So that means that a 2 yr old human being should be separated from her parents for almost a day? And it would've been obvious if they actually had the intention to actually steal; you don't shoplift in front of a child and they would've tried to hide them so that the employees couldn't see them.

I have SEEN people shoplift WITH a child in tow. They will stuff things into the child's coat, stroller, car-seat...it's ludicrous. NORMAL people won't, those who have taken the ridiculous steps to shoplifting will. Many times the parents will have the child "hold" the item and then walk out of the store. It's not uncommon.

What would you have rather happened? Have the 2 year old go to the jail with the two parents for booking?

 

[Evelle]

DONT DO THE CRIME IF YA CANT DO THE TIME!!!
it doesnt matter if you take a carmael from a bulk ben or a sandwich of a deli
IT IS STEALING!!!! and like i tell my girls stealing is bad!! we go to jail if we steal! so DONT TAKE THINGS THAT ARE NOT OURS!!
i once saw a judge make a grown man cry for taking a candy bar from a winco.

 

[serendipity22]

Quote:
Sure. I marched the toddler back into the store and made them pay for it and apologize to the cashier and manager for stealing an item.

I then make them earn the money by doing various chores at home.

I do this to them at 2-3, they are required to admit doing the theft at the store and pay for a $1 candy bar, then work to earn the dollar, they aren't tempted to steal again later on or so I've found so far.

I'll take being a strict and mean parent, it means my (admittedly whiny at times, curses of teenagers) well mannered children can function in polite society.

You're lucky the FauxPolice didn't catch you and call the real police, since you were attempting to leave the store with an item that wasn't paid for.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Quote:
One would hope that the parent would bring the child AND item back into the store and teach said child a lesson for the day.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
Sure. I marched the toddler back into the store and made them pay for it and apologize to the cashier and manager for stealing an item.

I then make them earn the money by doing various chores at home.

I do this to them at 2-3, they are required to admit doing the theft at the store and pay for a $1 candy bar, then work to earn the dollar, they aren't tempted to steal again later on or so I've found so far.

I'll take being a strict and mean parent, it means my (admittedly whiny at times, curses of teenagers) well mannered children can function in polite society.

You're lucky the FauxPolice didn't catch you and call the real police, since you were attempting to leave the store with an item that wasn't paid for.

They would be welcome to.

 

[jbourget]

Crazy!!

 

[OwlLover]

Quote:
So that means that a 2 yr old human being should be separated from her parents for almost a day? And it would've been obvious if they actually had the intention to actually steal; you don't shoplift in front of a child and they would've tried to hide them so that the employees couldn't see them.

I have SEEN people shoplift WITH a child in tow. They will stuff things into the child's coat, stroller, car-seat...it's ludicrous. NORMAL people won't, those who have taken the ridiculous steps to shoplifting will. Many times the parents will have the child "hold" the item and then walk out of the store. It's not uncommon.

What would you have rather happened? Have the 2 year old go to the jail with the two parents for booking?

It was a SANDWICH. Its not necessary to go to jail over a sandwich. A fine and a misdemeanor charge is reasonable. We weren't there anyway so you can't say that she was stealing.

 

[bobcatridge]

Quote:
Sure. I marched the toddler back into the store and made them pay for it and apologize to the cashier and manager for stealing an item.

I then make them earn the money by doing various chores at home.

I do this to them at 2-3, they are required to admit doing the theft at the store and pay for a $1 candy bar, then work to earn the dollar, they aren't tempted to steal again later on or so I've found so far.

I'll take being a strict and mean parent, it means my (admittedly whiny at times, curses of teenagers) well mannered children can function in polite society.

The child didn't talk yet and hardly walked. I did carry the child back in and paid for the item. I am plenty strict with kids - just ask my daughter. No allowance is given unless it is earned. There are no freebees in our household. You have to pay for it. That wasn't the point. The point was that none of us are perfect and we can accidentally have something like this happen. The consequences should match the incident - I still think it didn't.

 

[cassie]

Some years ago a woman with her two small children was shopping for a television set in KMart. She had to wait a long time to get helped. She gave one of the children a candy bar to pacify him during the wait. By the time she finally got waited on, selected and paid for the TV, she had forgotten about the candy bar. KMart had her arrested for shoplifting. Now she had paid a couple hundred dollars for the TV, had waited over an hour, and they had her arrested for a 25 cent candy bar. She sued and won, big time. They should have given her the candy bar as compensation for the wait, for heaven's sake. In the Safeway case, who wins here? Do you think those people are going to shop there again? Simply asking them to pay for the sandwiches would have been the right thing to do. After all, they had purchased and paid for a basket full of groceries. It is not as if they had walked in, eaten the sandwiches and then tried to walk out. This kind of publicity doesn't help Safeway. Whole Foods permanently lost me as a customer because they fired an employee who ate a tuna sandwich destined for the trash bin.