Poll: You see a poor man slip a can of food into his jacket....

[Yeeny]

I would tell him to put it back, before he got arrested. Then I would either take him grocery shopping, or home with me and fix him a good meal. People should learn to be kinder to each other, and even though stealing is not right, maybe compassion is more called for in a situation like that than just black and white laws.

 

[Raspewtin]

I'd ask him if I could pay for his can of food.

 

[ArkAoss]

well having worked at both a supermarket and a compusa, i've had to deal with stuff like that. But even though I worked at stop & shop for like 2 yrs I never personally caught any one stealing.
But during the indoctrination, they showed us the security dept, 2 people on 24x7 with like 25 cams, but most of what they saw was old ladies with carts with 100-200bux worth of groceries, they'd put those $10 bottles of vitamins or pills in their purses. but they said they would bust any one. I had a friend who was like a head cashier at another store, one day he had slipped something in his pocket, accidentaly, and not taken it out, they nabbed him at the end of the shift, and canned him, no chance to say it was an accident or nothing.

At compusa, we had this one guy, who would come in on saturday's (a "customer&quot and one time he tried to run off with a computer(compaq). He slammed into the sliding door, and popped it off the hinges, I turned and said "hey" (he had also set off the alarm) he looked at me a sec, I went to go out there, he dropped the pc, and split.

another time he got away with a pc, i chased him out to his car, and he threw it in, and I stepped out of his way.

Another time same guy, came in, and we had had monitors right by the in door, he took one and slid it near the detectors, and went around the customer service desk, and out. then he darted in, nabbed the monitor, and ran out and threw it in his trunk, I ran out and stood infront of the car, and it was a mutt car, had mustang bumper, but was something else for a body. (but it was the same one he'd had the last time) but different plates.

And one time, this family came in, and I saw them milling around the far side of the row of registers, then they came by me, out the door with a cart, with something in it, and a coat over the top of it. the cart set off the alarm, I went out, and grabbed the cart and pulled the greasy coat off, and there where 3 dreamcasts in it, Their like "we'ze paid for this" and another employee came out, and she's like "yeah wheres the receipt,"
Then a manager came out, and the people left me with the cart, and walked out to their van, sayin they had a receipt, and the manager followed them to the car, and read the plates, but when we called the cops, the plates where bust.

I've never really seen some one steal, that would even merrit stealing.

The other day at home depot, I saw a woman, who looked like someone I knew, and she was walking like she was looking for a register, and I was leaving, because they didn't have our tile we wanted, and as she walked thru the door alarm went off, and the cashier by the door, was like who was it, and i pointed the woman out, and she's like, oh yeah, and seemed to just forget about it. I followed the woman. then she disappeared behind a car, I went to see where, and didn't see her. Then I went down a few rows, to the row my car was in, and saw her sitting in a car with some guy, they peeled out of there when she saw me again.(I was pimpin in my nice suit, lookin like a FED)

 

[guyver01]

you ever think he's stealing cuz he *WANTS* to get caught? I mean... jail gives you 3 meals a day and a place to sleep that is sheltered from the elements....

This may be wrong, but if i were homeless, i'd want to be put in jail

 

[DannyLove]

why make his/her life worse by rating him out. give them a damn break! geez, i can't believe some people voted to rat them out.....(tiss tiss, shakes head in shame)

 

[classy]

"I would tell him to put it back, before he got arrested. Then I would either take him grocery shopping, or home with me and fix him a good meal. People should learn to be kinder to each other, and even though stealing is not right, maybe compassion is more called for in a situation like that than just black and white laws."
GirlFriday

Man that really touches my heart. Very few people would even suggest taking a person home to cook for them. It takes a special person to say something like that. You are a nice person. I agree with you and few others along the same line of thinking.

 

[Thorn]

<< neither.

I would pay for it. >>


Me too. It's my responsibility to do that.

Now if it were a pack of smokes or a bottle of beer I'd tell the manager.

 

[ndee]

guyver01:
Yeah right, and the future is up in your a$$

 

[SendTrash]

let it slip by

 

[pen^2]

so who is ending up getting hurt? some store owner with a mansion and a yacht? it is a shame if a man has to steal, but you were never put into that position where hunger pains dominate your values moral. human beings are made of flesh, we need to eat to survive, unlike some humble imaginative ethereal figure. of course, buying him a bag of groceries would be preffered by far. When I read &quot;Les Miserables&quot; I wished the guy werent sentenced 20years for stealing bread for his siblings. if the store has shotty security and dont care about their stuff being stolen then its their problem anyway.

 

[Raspewtin]

BrotherMan, I respectfully disagree. Many store owners work very hard. I'm not saying it's our responsibility to report any crime we see. But at the same time, I don't think it's fair to donate someone else's money, just because one judges the thief worthy of the stolen goods.

 

[Elita1]

Shame on all of those who would yell at this poor guy stealing--for all you know he's taking it home to his starving kids.
Like, GF I would tell him not to steal and offer to buy some groceries for him and also help him find a soup kitchen or an out-of-the-cold program where they donate food to those in need.
We should be more helpful to those less fortunate.

 

[pen^2]

well good point raspewtin, my reply was in rather extreme color. but like GF said we should be more considerate of others... if you seriously want him to be sent to jail for stealing food that he desperately needed then you are promoting a police state, i guess everyone forgot about the nazi german society.

 

[bigbootydaddy]

several arguements:

1) if there were no such thing as money, there would be no such thing as stealing, as everyone would work to provide their trade/service in exchange for access to everyone elses trades/services. but since we are all greedy bastards this will never happen, society is far to big and if that road was to have been taken it could have been centuries ago.

2) i got two jobs...he cant get one?

3) what would i do...tell him to put it back, buy it from him, and show him the right way. many say they would do this, but in the time of action, many will cringe away.

 

[Elita1]

<< what would i do...tell him to put it back, buy it from him, and show him the right way. many say they would do this, but in the time of action, many will cringe away. >>



Perhaps some would shy away. But don't make that assumption so readily of others.
I've lived all my life in a poor country and my family has taught me (with their excellent example) first and foremost to help and give to those in need.
I do not cringe.
And I hope no one shrinks away from the opportunity to help another human being.

 

[Azraele]

I think I agree with RaDragon. Stealing is wrong, but if I could persuade them not to steal for a free cart of groceries then I think it's a good thing. Stealing is black/white for a lot of people. It's illegal, it's wrong. And that's entirely true. Hunger sometimes makes people do weird things though, so I can't say that I think a man that steals a can of food is necessarily bad, just hungry. If the thief were in an area that had lots of help available to those in need, then it might be a different story. Some areas, (like mine) have virtually no help for those in need, so in that case I could see where theivery might become necessary in the thief's mind. Either way it's a sad thought that someone might be reduced to stealing just to survive.

 

[Raspewtin]

<< if you seriously want him to be sent to jail for stealing food that he desperately needed then you are promoting a police state >>



yeah, i now see what you were getting at. good point.

 

[Turdorf]

Had a similar incident last week. Two very old people were in line in front of me at the grocery store. They moved about as slow a molasis. The woman had one of the old fashion coin purses and went back and forth to retrieve each dollar, and then each coin. When she was done, and gave the clerk the money, the clerk handed her back two dollars in change. When the groceries were bagged, the lady turned to the clerk and asked for her two dollars in change. The clerk told her that it was already given to her. The lady started to panic, and started to check her purse, her pockets, her coupon holder, etc. She could not find it. The husband started to say that they are trying to rip us off for two dollars. They wouldn't leave the check out stand. Soon the manager came by to see what the comotion was. The checker explained her story to the manager, and I also mentioned that I saw the checker give the lady the two dollars. Supposedly, the lady does this everytime she comes to this store. The manager was polite but firm with her that the money was already given to her. She started to leave the store. The checker started to check out my groceries and then I paid for them. On my way out of the store, I caught up with the old couple. She was crying by the front door about the two dollars. I told my wife to take out two dollars and give it to her. She did, but then she said: See, you knew they stole two dollars from me and now you feel guilty. Wow, somedays it just doesn't pay to be nice!

 

[mr_cheesy]

I'd tell him to hone his shoplift0rin skillz, he is apparently not very good.
Actually probably nothing its not my place.

 

[uncouth]

I'm not a rat

 

[Thorn]

<< I told my wife to take out two dollars and give it to her. She did, but then she said: See, you knew they stole two dollars from me and now you feel guilty. Wow, somedays it just doesn't pay to be nice! >>


You did a good thing and there's no shame in it. It's possible the old lady is demented or senile.

To quote my grandfather - &quot;You never need an excuse to do the right thing, excuses only come in handy when you do nothing&quot;.

 

[DannyLove]

OT: how about that one scene in &quot;Scary Movie&quot; when the girls were entering school and that homeless guy approached them. It was really sad the way they depicted on homeless people, but i thought it was kind of funny.

 

[dabuddha]

bigbootydaddy: exactly

im going to school full time and working full time (mostly to pay for school and bills).
Granted, it's hard, really hard. But you don't see me robbing banks or stealing from Sam's club. I work hard to earn money which i use to support myself. And the man can easily get a job and pay for that can of food if he really wanted to. Getting caught by security would leave an impression on him and do much more good than buying the can for him. I seriously doubt though that he'd goto jail for stealing a can of food

 

[Tzen]

As a personal standard, I regard stealing as a generally bad thing, but I'm shocked at some of the hard-nosed responses from people who are obviously comfortable financially. First, to all those &quot;get a job, you loser&quot; folks, it's not happening. We live in a capitalist society and people will ALWAYS slip through the cracks. Being poor is a downward spiral; many jobs (prior to a recent act of Congress) would use credit checks as a basis for whether they'd hire you or not. You have to look nice because your appearance will be judged. Many places have dress codes, as well. Not to mention if your car is reposessed and/or you get into debt and have creditors garnish your wages (though that's blocked in some states), you get fired. Now, if you get fired, how is that going to HELP the debt in any way? If you don't have a previous work history complete with impeccable references, you aren't likely to be hired anywhere else, either.

To those bleeding hearts who feel welfare and a socialistic society are the answer, look at the history of the Soviet Union. Even though everyone had a guaranteed job, quality of work was shoddy because there was no incentive to do good work; everyone was paid the same whether they did a good job or a lousy one, thus quality of life suffered and people still lived in sunstandard conditions.

Amazing how a simple poor man and a can of food can spark such self-eighteousness and judgmentalism, but until you've been poor and stood face to face with your life-line (you know, those places you Never-neverland dwellers send your checks to) and been told, &quot;We're all out of money,&quot; then you don't know the least little bit of what you're talking about.

~ Joseph (Tzen's brother)

 

[Windogg]

What does a poor person look like? I certainly don't know. I've known many poor people to spend every last penny on designer suits and many rich people that dress in discount K-Mart clothes. A thief is a thief. To say a person has the right to steal just because he/she looks &quot;poor&quot; is not an excuse. Does that mean people should be allowed to run red lights because their car looks like a emergency vehicle?

Windogg