To be shocked by what DD told me about her workplace?

I saw two lads walk into Greggs, stock up on as much food as they could carry and walk straight back out.

The staff didn't even bat an eyelid.

My dd works in WH Smith's, same age as ops dd, and some of the customers are actually unbelievable in how rude they are.

Decrimilising theft has put plenty of hard working people out of business and facilities withdrawn from decent people and communities.

Police do not prosecute shoplifters if the theft is under £200

Hourly?! 😂😂

“Surely used needles being left in toilets is a matter for the police”

Not in a million years. I had my phone snatched from my hand in London and the Met didn’t want to know anything they just said they have no resources and here’s a crime number for the insurance. Have you also seen those people repeatedly looting shops in London? Staff told not to engage, same people over and over, no police.

It’s not a nice job to pick up needles but there’s no risk if they have the proper equipment and so no reason to refuse.

Not reporting shoplifting isn’t unusual. The police are not coming out to investigate a pack of sausage rolls walking out the door.

It’s not a police matter, they have other stuff to deal with. I don’t know whether street scene would deal with the paraphernalia as it’s private property. I do think anyone dealing with sharps etc should be fully health and safety trained though, although I doubt someone gets paid more for being trained.

As mentioned thefts of under £200 aren't prosecuted.

Utterly pointless to dust a syringe for prints, all it proves is you touched the syringe, not what you did with it.

Prosecuting users for using doesn't achieve anything. They need safe injecting spaces, support and accessible rehab, not a fine.

These multi million conglomerates around the world with their supporting political allies support the wealth divide that creates the theft and drug issues the western world has
Then they hold their hands up in desperation at the exact situation of capitalism and greed they support and encourage

Our local Greg’s is in a petrol station so there are toilets, not sure if it’s Greg’s, Spar or Euro garage’s responsibility to check and clean the toilets though.

It’s the same in a fairly large Sainsbury’s the next town over, I refuse to shop there, needles always in the toilets and baby change area.

Oh dear you have been blinded by middle class privilege and now your daughter has to see the reality for some people you are surprised and worried.

Wake up and see the world around you outside of your protective bubble of his is life in the UK.

Without the protection of your privilege this is life for many many people trying to survive when the ruling classes that you want to be part of are - well the in the simplest terms liars bully's and thieves

People who are addicted to drugs behave awfully to those around them, and nmw staff shouldn't have to put up with that behaviour. People who are addicted to drugs are very likely to have experienced significant trauma. Both things can be true. Arresting people for what they do to feed addiction is pointless because the addiction is so much stronger than any deterrent effect of being arrested or fined. They need proper support to deal with the addiction and the root causes, for their sakes and the people they impact.

No I work in a job where I speak to and see these people day in and day out and try to help them turn their life around by offering them therapeutic psycho social interventions, counselling, and support alongside pharmacological treatment . I'm truly sorry that happened to you I really am it must have been terrifying. You should never judge a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes as the saying shoes.

From what I hear from people I know who work in retail, shoplifting is completely rife and shops can no longer prevent it. Someone who works in a Next store says that it's a daily occurrence and they come in and steal whole rails of expensive puffer jackets. Without a security guard on the door staff are powerless and allow it to happen because there are dangers in challenging. It's organised criminals.

Another I spoke to works in a Space NK and is faced daily with groups if Albanian and other immigrants who operate in gangs targeting city centre stores. They try to control it by limiting numbers of customers in the shops at any one time to but staff are frightened and it's not worth risk trying to challenge anyone.

I have a nmw job in retail, you wouldn't believe the amount of literal SHIT that we have to deal with on a daily basis, nothing shocks me anymore, a lot of people are vile and disgusting. I have now refused to touch anything that involves bodily fluids because I DO NOT get paid enough to clean up after people who think it's ok to dump snot covered tissues, poo covered wipes and actual poo all over the shelves! I always wonder what goes through peoples heads and what their own house must be like to do these sorts of things!

Ha ha utake it you don’t work a minimum wage job where you are constantly at risk of being stabbed spat at pushed over etc etc the company you work for don’t care nor do the police
or u might feel sorry for someone like me a widowed single parent working a night shift when the poor poor crack head who had a terrible start to life (as did I) decided he wanted to ram raid the shop and In the process injured us.poor poor man!!!!

I mean, I work at one of the top universities in the UK and we share our research centre with an NHS clinic that is public access. It took years of people doing drugs and having sex - yes, members of the public coming into our building to have sex in the toilets! - for the university to put a key code on the doors. This is in a fairly upscale urban area with a large wealthy/foreign student population. It's not the sort of area people imagine when they picture public sex and drug use. Nothing would shock me anymore! I think sadly anywhere with a public toilet is likely to deal with this to an extent.

Putting a key code on the door may help to an extent, but it may also put staff in the firing line for harassment and aggression if someone wants it and the staff won't hand it over. I don't think there is an easy solution other than closing the toilets really and pushing the problem elsewhere.

Starbucks in Manchester print the code of the loo door lock on the receipt. Where I live live Greggs don't have a loo anyway but if needles are being found regularly it does sound like a code needs to be on the loo door.

@whatinthenameofcrapisthis I am sorry that you have a daughter that is having to deal with this

Unfortunately this is part and parcel of working in hospitality because no matter the customer, drink or drugs in - wits out :(

Ive worked in the sector for 40 years and nothing shocks me anymore. Well it does, I cant believe how low behaviour has got

When I started out working in pubs, long before paid bouncers were the norm, women were often employed as floor staff to keep the peace, lads were less likely to thump a female - now thats all changed and pubs/clubs/etc now employ trained security

We see drugs being sold and we would oike them out ourselves . Because the toe rags still had some sense of decorum about them

Toilets, Ive seen the lot, one toilet a very well dressed woman in office attire, including the heels, actually standing on the seat to have a pee!! And missing the pan totally

And the amount of poo spread on the walls, or the toilets totally blocked with loo rolls and god alone knows what, or the loos seats broken from those popping in for a quickie. The used condoms just dropped on the floor.

And dont even talk about drunk women on their period :(

Needles are now the next thing we have to deal with :( Even where I work now, middle class area, we have them. And it is shocking and scarey

Even clearing tables, filled nappy anyone? Tissues full of snot ? Chewed up and spat out food? ( and its not always children ) The amount of shit and crap in general we deal with every day would turn most peoples stomach

Mine turned today with a customers nasel drip landing on my hand. Minor in the grand scheme of things but thats working with the public for you - a server/shop worker/ bar person - we are totally invisible to the general customer , we arent human , we are low paid workers just there to make sure you have the night/lunch/breakfast experience you have paid for.

Just please leave the loo as you find

The language on this thread is abhorrent. Druggies/junkies, crack heads. These are real human people. The majority who have suffered incredible trauma which has led them down the path they are on. Very few people actively chose to wake up one day and have an addiction to drugs. Yes some addicts are arseholes but they would be arseholes either way.

It's not morally fine ofc, but the Police aren't likely to bother prosecuting if the offence is under this amount...

This isn’t true at all

*puts

My brother also runs a pub in Victoria and they have a resident crackhead who sleeps outside and barks at customers. He's been there for 2 years. It doesn't out of customers but tourists do feel threatened by him.

When my brother goes outside to tell him to be quiet he goes "sorry mate I'm just bored". Quietens down, then he's off again barking or singing shirtless outside 😂. He's also barred as he tried to put his own head through a fruit machine. Because he was asked to leave for selling stolen meat!

Wow that’s truely horrific.