Shop Lifting

bushy said:

You'd have given him a slap ? why, whats he ever done to you ? I reckon you're basing this bravado on him being a scrawny junkie , what if he'd been 6 ft 5 and looked like he could really have a row ?

Click to expand...

I'd cross that bridge when it came to it, brain usually engages a little too late in them sort of circumstances. Probably get a kickin is the answer! Still though, can't stand theives!

seagullsovergrimsby said:

All employers in the UK are the same at the moment , they can get away with paying crap wages because of massive unemployment and migrant workers taking nearly all the minimum wage jobs.

Click to expand...

Well they must be doing something right to elicit such loyalty from their staff.

The reasons you give here mean that supermarkets can pay low wages not that they have to.

It's is not like these factors are having a massive effect on profits is it?

Billy the Fish said:

People are really struggling to understand this aren't they.

Not one person has condoned stealing on this thread. Stealing is bad in any situation and personally I wouldn't do it, I nicked a few sweets when I was a kid but that's it.

If I saw someone being robbed I would help (and have done on a train once), if I saw someone burgling a house I would call the OB, If I saw someone nicking from a small shop then I would do something (not call the OB though) - all of these crimes have an immediate and indentifiable victim.

There is no victim in taking food from the supermarket, the "putting the prices up" argument is bullshit. I've seen the theory, but nobody can show me an actual mechanism that exists to link product prices to theft. It's buried under the umbrella of wastage, and they probably throw as much food in the bin through over ordering as they have stolen from stores. They charge as much as they can get away with while paying their supplier as little as possible, anyone that thinks shopping would cost less if theft were eradicated is living in cloud cuckoo land, their profit would just be a fraction of a % higher.

Some of you need to add some balance to your thinking, morality is not as simple as black and white, good and bad. Being vindictive towards someone that i've never met and potentially ruining their life for the sake of a tiny fraction of a days takings just doen't sit well with me. If they get caught by security or CCTV then more fool them, but I wouldn't want it on my conscience.

Click to expand...

Billy, I hate to break it to you but YOU appear to be the one struggling with the concept that stealing from a Supermarket is not a victimless crime.

Putting aside the increase in prices argument which you’ve eloquently dismissed as bullsh*t without substantiating why that should be the case, when common sense (and company accounts) suggest otherwise, I’m interested to know who you think owns the supermarkets?

With their market caps running into the Bns it’s not one wealthy individual as is the case of say Waterstones with its Russian oligarch. Clearly there will be a number of affluent private investors but in addition there will be pension funds as well as a significant number of small investors. The supermarkets, being acycclical, are not surprisingly popular investments for those looking for a safeish longer term hold that pays a healthy dividend. That dividend is funded from company profits so regardless of the % someONE (not just a faceless corporate) is losing out. I shall assume you’ve not attended an AGM of Sainsbury., Tesco and the like otherwise you would have noticed how many pensioners were in attendance who DEPEND on that dividend (and they are vociferous in making the point). I’ll also assume you don’t pay into a private pension as you evidently aren’t concerned how that might be performing and the implications for YOUR future.

Stealing is wrong, end of. You say you don’t condone stealing in one breath and rationalise it depending on the victim in the next. The point is that there is always a victim and that is, ultimately, always a person. Under no circumstances can it be justified as there are always food banks and other organisations available to help where circumstances require it. It also incumbent on us to act when we see it - it’s called a moral responsibility. That’s not being a “grass” (and I really struggle to understand how grown men still have such a word in their vocabulary), that’s taking responsibility.

Billy the Fish said:

People are really struggling to understand this aren't they.

Not one person has condoned stealing on this thread. Stealing is bad in any situation and personally I wouldn't do it, I nicked a few sweets when I was a kid but that's it.

If I saw someone being robbed I would help (and have done on a train once), if I saw someone burgling a house I would call the OB, If I saw someone nicking from a small shop then I would do something (not call the OB though) - all of these crimes have an immediate and indentifiable victim.

There is no victim in taking food from the supermarket, the "putting the prices up" argument is bullshit. I've seen the theory, but nobody can show me an actual mechanism that exists to link product prices to theft. It's buried under the umbrella of wastage, and they probably throw as much food in the bin through over ordering as they have stolen from stores. They charge as much as they can get away with while paying their supplier as little as possible, anyone that thinks shopping would cost less if theft were eradicated is living in cloud cuckoo land, their profit would just be a fraction of a % higher.

Some of you need to add some balance to your thinking, morality is not as simple as black and white, good and bad. Being vindictive towards someone that i've never met and potentially ruining their life for the sake of a tiny fraction of a days takings just doen't sit well with me. If they get caught by security or CCTV then more fool them, but I wouldn't want it on my conscience.

Click to expand...

So you are saying it is alright to STEAL from supermarkets.....

danish seagull said:

I'd cross that bridge when it came to it, brain usually engages a little too late in them sort of circumstances. Probably get a kickin is the answer! Still though, can't stand theives!

Click to expand...

come on now, lets be honest, I rather think the answer to my question " what if he'd been 6 ft 5 and looked like he could really have a row ? " is , i'd have done f*** all

Yorkshire-Seagull said:

Wow. The moral compass of the world amazes me sometimes. Quotes like "stealing from big companies is a victimless crime" are really depressing.

Click to expand...

This, Stealing is stealing, no matter who it is from and is wrong.
Do the the people on here who advocate "stealing from big companies is a victimless crime" tell their children this and allow and encourage them to steal from these "big companies"

FFS how many times do I need to spell it out - I and a few others are saying that GRASSING someone to security in a supermarket is a bit below the belt and morally questionable. If you can't comprehend that, whether you agree or not, then there is no point continuing this debate.

For the last time, and for the people talking about a moral compass - yes my moral compass is clearly set differently to yours, we do not live in a black and white binary world where only right and wrong exist, and while the OP and many of you believed he was doing his bit for society, I personally think he should mind his own business as he doesn't know this person or their circumstance.

Everyone has a reason for doing things, every action has a story - mabye that person is an evil no good shoplifter career criminal junkie who will shortly move on to burgling your house and stealing your car if not apprehended soon. Or mabye it's just someone down on their luck and desperate for food. I don't know, you don't know.

Think of the bigger picture, rather than your own perceived moral superiority.


P.S - Well done to [MENTION=26896]GypsyKing[/MENTION] for a first post containing the biggest amount of waffle and hearsay I've ever seen on NSC. If you want to substantiate your own argument then go on said company accounts and calculate what their profit would've been without any theft, and how much bigger the dividends would've been without any theft, then we can attempt to aportion the total loss per theft, per shareholer - this might help me to understand how wronged these people should feel by the underclass stealing their goods.
Also, it is possible to not condone something and to understand why someone else is compelled to do it, at the same time. Or the next breath as you put it.

Shrinkage affects a shops's insurance. They get the insurance costs down by forking out for security measures. This cost gets passed on ny increases in essential stock, eggs, milk, bread, beans etc. It also gets recouped by freezing staff pay and scrapping the already meagre bonus. Theft does have an affect, however I don't think I would shop someone if I saw them nicking stuff. In fact I'd probably be on to my next thought within 10 seconds of turning my head.

- - - Updated - - -

Shrinkage affects a shops's insurance. They get the insurance costs down by forking out for security measures. This cost gets passed on ny increases in essential stock, eggs, milk, bread, beans etc. It also gets recouped by freezing staff pay and scrapping the already meagre bonus. Theft does have an affect, however I don't think I would shop someone if I saw them nicking stuff. In fact I'd probably be on to my next thought within 10 seconds of turning my head.

Marc1901 said:

Out of curiosity, why did you feel the need to tell the security? I know it's breaking the law blah blah but it didn't have nothing to do with you and wouldn't effect you whatsoever? If I saw someone doing it in likes of Waitrose, ASDA, Sainsbury's etc then it wouldn't bother me one jot, different if it was something like your local shop, that's when I'd expect people to say something.

Waitrose won't be losing out a shed load of money will they..

Click to expand...

I read somewhere that shoplifting/pilfering amounts to 2% of retail outlets turnover, and this loss is in turn factored into pricing so as not to affect profit margins.

If this is so, an average weekly shop of £100 will in real terms cost you another £2.00, - or £104 a year!

The equivalent sum of watching 4 Albion home games. Food for thought eh!