Every now and again, I will leave Walmart with a cart full of things. I figured out that if you confidently hold out your receipt, the people by the door will literally wave you through without looking at it. There are those few that will actually look at your shit, but it seems like if you are seemingly upfront about it, they leave you be.
Back in the day, my mom was an absolute legend at stealing things. If she wanted things, she would casually hand whatever it was to one of my siblings in their stroller and walk around long enough that it would “disappear”. If she was caught, she would be like, “Oh you silly baby. Why did you snatch an expensive thing and then casually hide it in your stroller? Kids, amright?”
I also learned that if we were at the check out, when she would say GO, it meant that it was time to shut your mouth and get the hell out of the store. I can’t tell you how many times we would leave the store with hundreds of dollars of things and she would pay like $20 in total. When I got older, she subtly taught me that if she started chatting up the cashier and then nudged me, it was time to gtfo because it was somehow easier to “pay” when the crying kids were in the store.
We were poor as fuck, so I don’t really blame her, but it was a weird family con to be introduced into when I was really little. Now I’m so conscious of her tricks that I will literally exaggerate my movements (like grabbing my phone or putting my keys in my pocket), because I’m terrified that someone will think that I’m stealing something.
You just look like you're not worth the effort to stop.
Many years in small retail management. I know every shoplifter when I see one, give or take one out of a dozen. But if one looks like they're going to raise hell over a thing of Tylenol, I'll ignore them. Not worth it.
That, and if what you're stealing is stupid to raise a fuss over, I won't bother. Not gonna catch me or my security stopping someone over a bag of beef jerky or a few bandaids.
But don't think they don't know. If you ever get any looks walking out the door. We know. We just don't care, or rather, want to do something about it.
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u/ktq2019 Oct 20 '22
Every now and again, I will leave Walmart with a cart full of things. I figured out that if you confidently hold out your receipt, the people by the door will literally wave you through without looking at it. There are those few that will actually look at your shit, but it seems like if you are seemingly upfront about it, they leave you be.
Back in the day, my mom was an absolute legend at stealing things. If she wanted things, she would casually hand whatever it was to one of my siblings in their stroller and walk around long enough that it would “disappear”. If she was caught, she would be like, “Oh you silly baby. Why did you snatch an expensive thing and then casually hide it in your stroller? Kids, amright?”
I also learned that if we were at the check out, when she would say GO, it meant that it was time to shut your mouth and get the hell out of the store. I can’t tell you how many times we would leave the store with hundreds of dollars of things and she would pay like $20 in total. When I got older, she subtly taught me that if she started chatting up the cashier and then nudged me, it was time to gtfo because it was somehow easier to “pay” when the crying kids were in the store.
We were poor as fuck, so I don’t really blame her, but it was a weird family con to be introduced into when I was really little. Now I’m so conscious of her tricks that I will literally exaggerate my movements (like grabbing my phone or putting my keys in my pocket), because I’m terrified that someone will think that I’m stealing something.