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Post by robeiae on Sept 18, 2018 8:53:05 GMT -5
Check out this story: www.local10.com/news/florida/broward/broward-county-prosecutor-suspended-after-shoplifting-arrestShe's fairly well known down here, as she handles most of the high profile sex crime cases. She's also written a couple of kids' books. Anyway, her attorney's response was predictable (imo): This is such happy horseshit. And the guys on the local radio show are no better--I think one them knows here--insofar as they're trying like mad to excuse her with the lame argument that "why would she shoplift if she was already buying over $100 worth of stuff?" First of all, people with a shopping cart or shopping basket don't use their pockets or purses to carry stuff for which they intend to pay. Or at least I have yet to ever see such a person. Secondly, the idea that someone who is paying for a bunch of stuff wouldn't bother to shoplift something else pretty much misses the point entirely. I caught one couple shoplifting a $12 jug of wine, even as they purchased over $200 worth of groceries. People doing their weekly shopping pilfer candy, chapstick, and medicine constantly. It drives me up the wall when people make excuses like this, though I have a hunch that a lot of them are making these excuses so they can use them if they ever get caught...
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Post by gaild on Sept 18, 2018 12:47:32 GMT -5
Shoplifting, done by someone who has enough money to pay for the goods, is often a sign of depression or that something deeper is going on. (I'm trying to paste a link here but it doesn't seem to be working.) linkThe article from BBC News states: While I may sympathize with the person suffering, I don't accept any reason for shoplifting. Retailers and merchants increase the price of goods to cover their losses - and we all end up paying for it.
Ah. So that's how the linky thing works!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 12:59:46 GMT -5
I did accidentally shoplift some expensive organic strawberries once. No kidding. I was carrying them in a clear plastic vegetable bag separately from my basket so they didn't get squished or spill. But I forgot I had them in a bag hanging from my hand when I set my basket on the counter, and the checkout woman didn't notice. I didn't notice until I was half a block away from the store -- at which point I turned back. They laughed at the customer service desk and joked about arresting me.
I can't see why you'd put cosmetic items in a separate bag, though. And $42 sounds like a lot of stuff. I am guessing it's a depression/mental illness thing. Sad, but yeah, she doesn't get a mulligan. We can't have shoplifting prosecutors.
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Post by Amadan on Sept 18, 2018 15:22:52 GMT -5
Depression, mental illness, or compulsive behavior/thrill-seeking.
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Post by Optimus on Sept 18, 2018 17:08:21 GMT -5
Most shocking part of that story to me is that only 3 "beauty products" cost damn $43.
It'd have to made outta gold, make me look like Jason Momoa, and make me smell like pure sexual magnetism for me to pay that much.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 17:58:34 GMT -5
That's less than $15 bucks each. An average drugstore moisturizer costs more than that. My Olay regenerist is $25, and they go higher than that -- and that's for drugstore stuff, not high-end department store stuff. That's my night cream. For daytime, I use an SPF moisturizer that runs about $17 -- again, that's quite moderate. My facial cleanser costs about $7 -- I use a cheap one.
So in other words, if I were to purchase all of my basic face care routine -- and for a woman who is no longer a teenager, that is a very basic, frugal face care routine -- it would cost more than $43. It lasts me for a couple of months, so there's that.
Drugstore makeup -- a L'Oreal blush will run you $11-12...you get the picture. Three items for $43 is really not much for women's toiletries. If you go to a department store for higher end stuff, $43 will get you one item, if that.
I have a friend who pays $300 for a jar of her face cream. I'll note that I'm older than she is and have better skin -- I think Olay is perfectly fine, so I won't splurge on that. Heh. Once, when we were shopping, she bought her face cream and I was agog at the cost. The sales lady said to me "well, you have lovely skin, what do you use?" I told her Olay. She and my friend both looked like I said "pig manure, why do you ask?" It was that unthinkable to them to pick up a drugstore moisturizer. I can't get my friend to try the Olay, despite her acknowledging my good skin. She says "well, I NEED a $300 face cream." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My big splurge is my perfume. I wear only one fragrance (I don't switch off between fragrances), and I wear a bare minimum of it, so it lasts forever (literally years) -- but it's Chanel and it's about $80 a bottle. I'd rather just smell like soap than cheap fragrance -- that's a place where quality tells if you have a sensitive nose. If I couldn't afford something good, I'd go without.
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Post by gaild on Sept 19, 2018 4:10:23 GMT -5
The cosmetics counters in most stores I've seen here all seem to have extra security. Cosmetics are probably quite commonly shop-lifted items. They're expensive and easy to slip into a pocket. That said, I actually walked out of a pharmacy once with a tube of mascara in my hand. While I paid for the other goods, I completely forgot I was holding it. It wasn't until I got to the parking lot that I realized it was still in my hand and not in the paper bag. When I went back to pay for it and apologized, the cashier was stunned. Would most people have just shrugged it off and not returned to pay?
But it is easy to forget to pay for something. It happens. Especially if you're thinking about other things. Maybe the prosecutor in the OP should be given the benefit of the doubt - at least until someone could prove intent. Hmm?
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Post by Amadan on Sept 19, 2018 8:20:45 GMT -5
Most shocking part of that story to me is that only 3 "beauty products" cost damn $43. It'd have to made outta gold, make me look like Jason Momoa, and make me smell like pure sexual magnetism for me to pay that much. Dude, I'm not a woman and my SO hardly buys this stuff at all, and even I know that $43 isn't much for beauty products.
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Post by celawson on Sept 19, 2018 10:19:50 GMT -5
Did someone mention Jason Momoa? *stares off into space*
If it had been one beauty product, I'd believe her, because I have gone to buy a beauty product and opened my purse to check my old product so that the shade I'm buying is the correct one. I can see accidentally dropping them both back in my purse. (It's never happened, but I can imagine it). Three products? Sketchy.
Also, Cassandra posted a thread about buying her doctor a gift. I read it last night when I was actually lying on my side in bed and too tired to type a response. I cannot find that thread today. Can anyone send me a link so I can respond? Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 10:31:22 GMT -5
Did someone mention Jason Momoa? *stares off into space* If it had been one beauty product, I'd believe her, because I have gone to buy a beauty product and opened my purse to check my old product so that the shade I'm buying is the correct one. I can see accidentally dropping them both back in my purse. (It's never happened, but I can imagine it). Three products? Sketchy. Also, Cassandra posted a thread about buying her doctor a gift. I read it last night when I was actually lying on my side in bed and too tired to type a response. I cannot find that thread today. Can anyone send me a link so I can respond? Thanks! The link! thecollinegate.boards.net/thread/1281/gift-retiring-doctor-thoughts?page=1&scrollTo=24190And I would very much appreciate your thoughts. I will send her a card with a grateful note regardless. It's only the gift part I'm debating about. To her, I might be just one of many patients, but to me, she's been someone who was there for me for a few things.
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Post by robeiae on Sept 19, 2018 12:43:35 GMT -5
In my experience, most shoplifters shoplift because they want whatever it is they're taking and consider it some sort of coup to get something for nothing. I guess this attitude might be a consequences of other issues, of mental illness or the like, but I think that most of the time it simply reflects poor character.
As to the benefit of the doubt, again I've never seen anyone shop by putting stuff in their purse or pockets. Never. Having worked in the grocery industry for many years, I can say that I never saw anyone go through the checkout line and take stuff out of their pockets or purse to pay for those things. I simply do not believe this happens and--imo--anyone who offers up such an excuse when they get caught are simply lying. And to be clear on the last, this was always the excuse offered when I caught someone shoplifting in such a manner. Always. Putting stuff in your purse or pocket when no one is looking, then never taking the stuff out again in the store to pay for it proves intent.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 13:02:46 GMT -5
I haven't seen anyone shop by putting stuff in their purse or pockets. To be fair, one thing I have seen is people shopping by putting things in their own grocery bags that they bring with them, especially when there are no baskets. I used to do so myself; I don't anymore. Once upon a time, stores seemed to be okay with this, but now most have policies against it (which I can understand).
In NYC, at least, lots of places encourage you to bring your own bags. Also, lots of people are walking with their groceries rather than driving with them, and hence buy relatively small amounts of things and use baskets rather than carts to shop (I can't recall the last time I used a wheeled cart). It's actually a pain in the ass to use a cart in your average NYC grocery store because the aisles are so narrow.
Two points:
(1) if you go into a store during a busy time, sometimes there are no baskets left.
(2) bags can be less awkward to handle than baskets.
I stopped doing the "putting groceries into my grocery bags" thing after I got stopped at Whole Foods wine shop for doing it. I was buying several bottles for a dinner party. I happen to have a wine carrier that holds six bottles, which I got for free once when I bought six bottles. It's way nicer than having six bottles clanking in a basket because it has cloth dividers between each bottle and a shoulder handle so you don't have the basket handles cutting into your hand. So anyway, I was picking out my bottles and putting them in the carrier, when employee stopped me. I explained why I was doing it and she was very nice, but said not to do it. Instead, she offered to bring the bottles I'd chosen to the register until I was done shopping. I understood and never did it again, but I have to admit until then it never occurred to me that someone might think I was trying to steal them!
But yeah, your purse or your pocket -- I would never have done that. I can imagine absentmindedly doing what c.e. describes (dropping it in my purse without thinking) with a single product, and as I said, I have in fact accidentally walked out the door holding something in my hand that I'd forgotten to pay for. But three items in your purse says shoplifting to me.
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Post by Optimus on Sept 19, 2018 17:33:08 GMT -5
Most shocking part of that story to me is that only 3 "beauty products" cost damn $43. It'd have to made outta gold, make me look like Jason Momoa, and make me smell like pure sexual magnetism for me to pay that much. Dude, I'm not a woman and my SO hardly buys this stuff at all, and even I know that $43 isn't much for beauty products. They need to just throw all of that shit in one bottle like they do for dudes. We already have a combined face wash + body wash + shampoo product. If they could also make it part toothpaste, too, so I could do everything in the shower from one bottle, it would be both extremely convenient and also likely create a rupture in the space-time continuum. But, breaking the universe would be worth it for the cost savings.
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Post by gaild on Sept 19, 2018 17:49:52 GMT -5
Dude, I'm not a woman and my SO hardly buys this stuff at all, and even I know that $43 isn't much for beauty products. They need to just throw all of that shit in one bottle like they do for dudes. We already have a combined face wash + body wash + shampoo product. If they could also make it part toothpaste, too, so I could do everything in the shower from one bottle, it would be both extremely convenient and also likely create a rupture in the space-time continuum. But, breaking the universe would be worth it for the cost savings. Interesting concept.
I'm trying to imagine someone washing with peppermint flavored body wash or brushing their teeth with apple scented body wash. Nope. Can't imagine it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 17:50:18 GMT -5
Yes, I've used one of those all-in-one products when traveling. My hair was a dull, frizzy hot mess, and my skin didn't look or feel right.
I'd love it if products cost less, but they are worth the money to me. I mostly buy moderately-priced ones, but still there is only so low I'm willing to go. That gets more and more true as the years go by -- my skin and hair visibly thank me when I use good products on them!
I guess to each their own. I also know people who would happily substitute a pill for meals, just to save time and calories. I can't imagine that -- eating and cooking are passions of mine -- but I guess everyone is different.
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