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?

I did but I don’t get it.
Until she leaves the building without paying she’s guilty of nothing.

She talked about the crisps being for her kids etc etc etc. lies or not who knows but that’s all irrelevant.

So her only action was that the crisps were in her back but not stolen at that point.

Sorry….not back….bag.

I worked with someone who was connected to the Richard Madeley case. It's not always the poor who steal

But if someone called you out you would have said "oh sorry yes I forgot them ". Then you would have paid and that would be the end of it.

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

Well he didn't accuse her of anything. He asked if she was going to pay for goods in her bag.

If she hadn't of changed her story up, my opinion would of been different. Seems she got a bit confused with her own storytelling.

Or just stressed out by a bully

Why did she then say that they were for her child and she'd forgotten them? Of course she was stealing them

👏

oh please.

Check your bias there... "Average mum so why would she be stealing"
Staff in local cafe ha been doing "And that cookie you took" at respectable looking people for years.

The only reason you and some are bit "oh but" is because a man called her out. Good on him. Fun thieves, any thieves, are fucking plight of businesses.

Outing her loudly in front of everyone is very accusatory.
He also said oh yeh that happens to me allll the time…..with an emphasis on the alll….that’s sarcasm ….again accusatory.

You could also say the man did her a favour in ensuring she didn't ultimately commit a theft. I don't understand how his behaviour was bullying in any way. Either unintentionally (unlikely given she isn't sure if they just fell in or if she forgot she'd picked them up for her child) or intentionally she had forgotten to pay and he helpfully reminded her to do so. If she does it regularly they are probably fed up of letting it happen.

My son works at a supermarket.
He's heard it all seen it all.
Love his manager and her no bull approach.

Maybe.
However legally she hadn’t stolen them as she was still in the shop.
This is why security and police only act after someone has left the building it is only at that point that you become a thief, not whilst you are still in the building.

Im surprised no one knows this.

He is a man he would always be in the wrong even if wrote it on piece of paper someone would complain the colour of the pen is passive aggressive

he might have been plain clothes security. We use to have them all the time. the staff on the shop floor would not know them too.

she was trying to steal

The guy who told the woman not to forget the crisps was a member of staff who stood in the queue to observe the woman who he knows is a thief, because she will have done it before.

Thieves are a direct threat to the businesses and livelihoods. They cause prices to peak due to loss of business. They are a stain on society and the woman was guilty as hell, hence the reason for her embarrassment.

You’re not allowed to display peoples photos and ‘out’ them. They can take you to court for harassment and they’d win.

Or she could have picked them up and forgotten about them?

You're right, I was inexact, I should have said she was in the process of stealing them or had the intention to

I think most people know that legally they aren't stolen until you leave without paying

Yeah. Happens so often. Like so so often. So many people keep forgetting. Just so much forgetting.

People, stop defending common thievery just be a it's by woman and man colled it out. If it was the other way around you would all be calling the thief a twat

OTT much?

The police are too stretched to deal with burglaries and car thefts but they’ll do a full investigation for a packet of crisps…right.

Anyway, he was very unprofessional and I think his behaviour would have made me uncomfortable enough to leave without ordering.

I read the other day that only 6 percent of people caught shoplifting did so out of necessity. The vast majority did it as a thrill or other weird shit.

That said, the way this incident was handled was appalling. Nothing to be gained and potentially the proprietor could be sued.

Then she might be as well to see a doctor, I know coffee shop queues can be long but it's worrying if she forget that she put the crisps in her bag (for safekeeping?) Within the timespan of the queue