Woman passively outed for shoplifting and I did nothing?

[Juliesdagger]

Weird one that’s rolling in my mind as I’m wondering if I should have stepped in ☹️
busy well known coffee shop in a supermarket this morning. As I was queuing, a man in front of me said loudly to the lady paying at the till “don’t forget the crisps you’ve got” as he spoke so loudly it was hard not to then hear the rest - she looked confused and said what crisps? I’m just getting my coffee” and again in a loud voice the man said “the crisps you put in your shopping bag” again the woman looked bemused, looked down at her carrier bag and said oh gosh they must have fallen in when I got my phone” (or similar, I didn’t get the exact words) and took them out to be scanned. She looked a bit upset and I heard her apologising to the barista at the till saying they were for her kid’s snack and she couldn’t believe she’d nearly forgotten to pay for them. The man who had called her out then started scoffing loudly saying “oh yeah, that happens to me allllll the time, things just fall into my bag and I forget about them” and smirking and rolling his eyes, clearly insinuating she had stolen them or tried to. The woman just looked clearly flustered and by this time had paid and she left looking like she was going to cry.

I then to my surprise saw the man leave
the queue (despite him being next in line to order) and head for the staff only door so he must work there! And was only waiting in line to see if she paid at the till for the crisps.

it’s been playing on my mind all day. The woman was clearly upset but I would have been too if I’d Been passively accused like that 🤷‍♀️I know you can’t type cast but she was buying an overpriced coffee and pastry, the crisps couldn’t have cost more
than £0.60 extra 🤷‍♀️and she looked well dressed, a bit flustered but not wonder and really just like your
average mum rushing Round supermarket etc so I guess I’m doubting if she was stealing? And I feel bad I didn’t challenge that It felt unprofessional of this man who clearly worked there to passively accuse her?

or am I being naive and she likely was attention to shoplift for a reason I can’t fathom?

if he works there, I would view it as him doing the woman a favor.

Perhaps an embarrassing episode will be enough to counteract the thrill from stealing something, perhaps more expensive, next time. He could have kept her from facing much more serious consequences.

For a bag of crisps ....

Sounds like she was stealing, her story doesn’t add up. Also if a staff member was following her it sounds like she’s done it before.

If she wasn’t spending money on expensive coffee / pastry and had stolen something essential then I’d think it would be ok to call the man out, but not in this case.

She was stealing them. She went from oops they magically jumped into my bag to they are the kids back and I forgot. Shes probably been seen doing it a few times and they've decided to call her out. And fair enough.

If he works there then in all liklihood she is a prolific shoplifter there.
They probably have quietly confronted her before and have now decided that making a scene might be the only way to stop her.
She looked bemused because she was caught and they'd stepped it up

If it had been a female member of staff, the reactions here and from you would be different I'm sure.

You have to nick over over £100 quid before you call police or they don't come unles there's been an assault aswell on staff where my hubby works

Actually, if it was a female member of staff I’d have said exactly the same thing. Apart from maybe calling her a bitch instead of a dick.

I wouldn't worry about it, it sounds like it could have been on purpose tbh

Irrelevant what she was wearing or buying at the time , rich people also shoplift . Her responses don’t add up 1. Must have fell in her bag 2. For her child’s lunch . Whatever

Apparently self scan has made opportunistic thieving easier for some and maybe this woman felt emboldened to seek a greater thrill. Most shoplifting has nothing to with ‘need’., the most shop lifted item is nail polish.

She is at fault for stealing, but the way he reacted was unnecessary.

What was unnecessary about his behaviour? He called a thief out in the hope that embarrassment would be a deterrent.

Her story doesn’t add up. Her asking, ‘’What crisps?’’ implies she knew nothing whatsoever about any crisps, so then why didn’t she put them back when finding them in her bag if this was the case?

Did they fall in accidentally without her knowledge or did she intend to buy them for her child and forgot to pay? The two scenarios are completely different. If they were for her child she wouldn’t have wondered ‘’what crisps?’’ She would have said ‘’Oh yes, silly me, I had put them in my bag to save carrying them and forgot’’ and then retrieved them and paid.

I had something fall into my bag from a shop without realising. Unlikely she was stealing

If you don't want to be caught stealing then it's probably a good idea not to steal. She sounds like a regular offender who they are trying to put off. Also, not really the point, but I suspect if it happened at somewhere like Costa the crisps probably cost well over 60p.

So companies making a profit deserve to have goods stolen?
Surely people wouldn't buy them if they disagree with the price. Sorry but if this is about feeding her kids then what is she doing in a coffee shop?
I think the attitude that if something is over priced or a company makes a lot of profit then it's ok to steal is so wrong!

He wasn’t just in line for shits and giggles. She is most likely a repeat offender. I do think calling police or displaying her photo would be more embarrassing for her.

Good on him for calling her out. Actions have consequences. She made her choice and she got caught out.

I worked for a while in an upmarket shop in very wealthy Kensington. The number of people who blithely helped themselves to a 'discount' was irritating. If I noticed, when they came to pay for whatever they wanted to buy, I'd always ask them if they'd like to pay for the other items in their bag before they left. They inevitably responded like your lady in the queue. Several times a week. None of them were short of money and these were trivial decorative non-necessities so just greed, not need.

If the guy worked there his actions were very unprofessional.
He should also know, if he’s an employee, that it’s not theft until you’ve left the building.
Assuming he worked there he should have approached her once outside the building
If he doesn’t work there then he should tell a member of staff who then should wait at the exit.

He sounds like a nasty piece of work either way.

She hadn’t left the building so she was guilty of nothing.

🤣🤣🤣🤣
whilst she’s still in the shop

😂
As I said actions have consequences and she got called out for hers.
By her story telling and changing the story seems she can't lie straight in bed.

Im confused now

Nothing to be confused about. Read the OP's opening post.