On Friday I went to a local Walgreens pharmacy for my annual flu shot and Covid vaccine (both of which involved a fast quick and a slightly sore arm, but I was good to play disc golf the next day, and now I’m protected and can protect those around me for at least a few months!). Something happened near the end of my visit that left me shaken, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
I had to buy something before leaving the store, and there was a line of 4 people in front of me. There was 1 person working the register and 1 security guard lounging near the exit.
A young man in his 20s joined the line behind me–I had seen him getting some chips and a drink in one of the aisles. He paused for a few seconds, seemed to decide he didn’t want to wait in line, and then just walked out of the store with around $25 worth of food in his arms.
The theft was disturbing in how casual it was. The security guard didn’t budge, and they weren’t a deterrence; plus, if they (or anyone) had done something, it may have escalated well beyond the value of a few Dorito bags.
Perhaps the oddest element to it was that I feel like the guy walked into the store prepared to pay for the food–otherwise he might have filled his arms with food and drugs–he just didn’t want to wait in line. It was as if he decided simply for the inconvenience that the moral contract didn’t apply to him.
I can’t recall ever seeing something like this happen in person. You may have witnessed much worse. It definitely made me not want to go back to that Walgreens (while also empathesizing for those who don’t have a choice or who work there).
What’s your impression of this experience? Have you seen anything like it?
Just this weekend someone walked out of a Five and Below while the clerks were helping me check out. They recognized the thieves and took a picture of the license plate of the car parked in the handicap zone.
I saw another guy walk right out of Macy’s and the alarm went off but no one cared or did anything.
I had a friend held at gunpoint at a Wingstop. And another friend was about to be robbed in a 7-11 by a guy with his hand in his jacket but he told the thief he was a college student and had no money and the thief waved him away.
Bad things happen and it’s sad, but it isn’t worth my safety to get involved.
None of these experiences have stopped me so far from returning to the businesses.
Something different that made me think twice was I went to Chase at night to use the ATM and I noticed a couple sitting in their car in the parking lot. I tried to stall to see if they would drive away but they didn’t didnt. As I opened my door they did too, so I closed my door and got ready to call police but by then the couple got back in their car and drove away.
There’s nothing really I can do to stop crime or violence, except to minimize the effect these people have in my life.
Looks like this is gonna be another “anonymous” reply because there’s nowhere for me to put my info for some reason. (This is Sara)
Yes, I saw this happen while I was in line at Grocery Outlet. It’s downtown across from City Hall, and the area is well known for both its student and homeless population. I’d seen the guy walking around the store with everything in his arms – the most notable was the box of Hostess Ding Dongs under his arm. He wasn’t trying to be in line; he just walked out. I heard the radios going off about “the guy with the Ding Dongs” and the manager respond with “at least it’s just food” and left it at that.
I bought my stuff and saw that guy a few doors down at a restaurant booth with his “loot” sitting there eating. I thought briefly about notifying the store or telling the police what I saw (officers are stationed in my building) but I decided against it.
What scares me are the smash & grab robberies I keep hearing about in the news. I’m in the SF bay area, and I can’t imagine trying to shop/live/work in SF without having free on-site secure parking at the very least. People bag on San Jose for having encampments around. Some sections of SF have people literally getting stepped over while they’re asleep/passed out on the sidewalk. It’s a sad situation in an area where Teslas are as popular a status symbol as BMWs used to be.
Sure, I witness situations like this on a daily basis. Not at my local supermarket. On the internet.
I know I’m going to sound like the classic “you wouldn’t steal a car, so why download a movie?”, but how is digital theft very different from what you witnessed at Walgreens? If somebody downloads a movie from a piracy site, they are stealing that movie. If somebody shares all assets for a board game to implement it on an unauthorized Tabletop Simulator mod, they are stealing that game. If somebody uses a random image from the internet without checking the copyright, they might be stealing that image. If somebody copy-pastes a copyrighted text they have found on the internet, they are stealing that text. And that’s without involving generative A.I. in the discussion.
It happens daily, all day long, everywhere, right in front of our eyes. But that doesn’t make it right.
The classic argument is “yeah but it’s digital, they don’t lose any physically manufactured goods”. Erm, true, but that’s one movie less they can sell. “Yeah but I wouldn’t watch the movie if it wasn’t for the free download.” Okay, but you _did_ watch it. Maybe you also wouldn’t eat Doritos if you couldn’t steal them.
Piracy is always theft. Either you were going to purchase it otherwise, in which case you robbed them of that income, or you were going to do something else with your time if it wasn’t for that free movie, in which case you probably robbed somebody else from some income (because you were going to read a book, buy a snack, play a game, …)
I see an important parallel between your story, Jamey, and the piracy issue: convenience as a solution. The guy wanted to pay but not if it meant waiting too long, so he decided to steal. We have seen the same in digital music and movies. In the nineties, everybody was stealing music. It was so easy to rip a CD and put the mp3 on a sharing site, and it was inconvenient and expensive to go out and buy a physical CD. That changed when Apple introduced the iTunes Store (99 cent for a song, immediately available!) and later with Spotify, Apple Music, and others: one monthly fee and you’re good to go. Same with Netflix and others for movies. Piracy still exists, but the numbers dropped significantly when purchasing digitally became convenient and super easy.
I’m now wondering if shorter waiting lines and more convenient ways to pay would lower theft numbers at Walgreens, and if that is what Amazon is trying to achieve with its automatic checkout stores.
While I’ve never witnessed such a blatant disregard for societal norms in the retail environment, as a member of law enforcement, it’s vital that we all stay more vigilant about our surroundings. Like in the military, we call it situational awareness…and it can save your life. Setting a slighter lower bar, it can keep you safe. Most stores have cameras, so hopefully you or someone mentioned what had occurred and at least they can play the video and get an idea if this is a regular patron or just a guy who came into this particular Walgreens. While it has become a it more regular in our lives, it does not make it normal.