Do people have no shame any more?

[tachetastic]

I don't know if the worst part of this story is the fact that its theft or the fact people don't care.

I was in Tesco this morning buying eggs (the normal type, not chocolate) and a couple were standing by the egg display swapping the eggs from two half-dozen boxes of the fancy premium brand eggs into a box for 12 Tesco own-brand eggs. They weren't even being subtle about it. He was just standing there holding the boxes while she swapped the eggs over. He then double checked that the designer eggs she had put in the Tesco box were all unbroken, and then they put the expensive box containing the cheap eggs back on the shelf and put the cheap box with the expensive eggs in their trolley, and off they went.

During all of this I and three other customers were just standing openly watching them and casting glances at each other.

The difference in price was probably about 50p per box, so about a quid in total. But is that the point? Are the eggs so much better that it's worth a heist, or are people just so pissed off with the CoL crisis that anything they can do to feel that they are getting something for nothing is worth while?

The couple so clearly didn't care that I couldn't see the point in telling them it was theft, but when they left I moved the two boxes containing the cheap eggs to one side and left them open, so nobody would pick them up not realising they weren't the fancy eggs.

AIBU, this is fine and large supermarkets have it coming?

or AINBU, this is still theft and cheeky fuckery of the highest order?

And more interestingly, what cheeky fuckers have you seen lately who could beat this?

It’s not the supermarkets that suffer - it’s the poor bastards that pay more for the lousy eggs.

I was in markies last week, someone had a member of staff direct them to the meat section, he said thanks, then proceeded to put a load into his shopping bag and just walked out. I watched him go. No attempt to hide it.

And no I didn’t get involved. I just moved a bit away. He didn’t look like someone you’d want to mess with, and I’m sure the staff saw and they didn’t want to get involved either.

it was the most brazen thing I’ve seen, literally had a staff member take him to tnem section.

Shoplifters have always been pretty brazen tbh

Always check your eggs if buying the expensive ones, there is a crown stamp on the Burford ones.

I check my eggs for broken ones, would never think someone had swapped them!

I have only checked mine since reading about it just before Christmas

There are still eggs from caged hens for sale in UK supermarkets. They are described as 'colony' or 'enriched cage' and instead of the hens being kept singly in small cages they are kept as a small group in a slightly larger cage which has a nesting area. Still a cage though and the hens don't see daylight till they go for slaughter at about 18 months of age.

Other options are barn eggs where the hens are kept inside but not caged; and free range where they in theory have the chance to go outside through pop-holes (though they might not do this for various reasons). With bird flu, free range may not be free range if they are restrictions in place.

If you really want to see how the hens laying your eggs are kept, you need to buy from a small-scale farm where you can see how they live or keep a few yourself (preferably rescued ex commercial hens who will really appreciate their new lives and who make lovely pets). Their eggs will also be fresher and tastier than anything you can buy on a supermarket!

One of my mums friends had hens when I was a kid. We used to have fresh eggs at breakfast when visiting, they were the best eggs I’ve ever had!

Not surprised OP, so many people don’t give a shit. The sad thing is, if you said something to them they would likely have told you to fuck off.

There was an article about this in the Times today:

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/decent-shame-kept-honest-now-extinct-f0h25sbvb

The temptation to record them and post it on social media would have been too much for me.

I was in a well known supermarket the other day

I was wearing a long-ish coat (knee length) that was open (thank you premenopause-too hot to wear zipped up but too cold to go without)

I had some college aged kids standing next to me and as I leaned forward to grab my sandwich,they used my hanging,open coat as cover to grab as many sandwiches as they could and walked out

I know a member of staff and she said they do it all the time-they are bloody fast

I've been the idiot thats got one brand of eggs and got them home to find I've paid a lot for the cheap ones

Really pissed me off as I only use decent eggs

I broadly don't care about people stealing actual food, or trying to get better quality food, if it is obviously for them to eat. I doubt they are selling the eggs for profit.

But there are situations within that, which can be different. If people are stealing 10 alarmed expensive steaks, as much as they might be doing it for them to eat it does become less likely. And in this case, the issue is the next person doesn't know what they are buying so not a good thing for them to do.

Some people have no shame and it’s becoming worse. In all areas of life. Theft as in the OP, how you dress in public, state of houses and gardens, not ashamed to be in receipt of out of work state benefits. Bring back shame. I stand by this.

The amount of dog shit I see around these days and general litter shows how little some people care. Generally, the type of people who do this are also the type of people who will tell you to fuck off if you call them out on it. (first hand experience of this)

I’ve also witnessed shoplifting in stores a fair few times. They don’t even hide it these days. I’ve mentioned it to security a couple of times, but they are pretty useless and react with as much urgency as a sloth, so I’ve stopped bothering now.

You think people should be ashamed if they have no choice but to be on benefits? Wow. Get ready with the rotten fruit, people, we’re going back to the Middle Ages.

So OP, why didn't you tell a member of staff?

Why didn’t you or anyone else tell the staff? I would (and have) reported things like that. I also report shoplifting though so I am a bit of an outlier by MN standards

Exactly 👍🏻🤷🏻‍♀️

MN is an odd place at times. Stealing food and committing fraud is totally okay apparently..

There is no difference between stealing food or bottles of booze.

Didn’t you tell the staff? I would have.

@tachetastic The issue is a breakdown in values and morals that were once standard and accepted in British society. That's why shoplifting has been de facto decriminalised.

The elites in society play down the prevalence of shoplifting, and play down the harm caused by physical retail spaces being destroyed, because these people directly profit as it boosts online retailers like Amazon.

That's why whenever there are widespread protests and yobs are openly smashing and looting shops, the elites are cheering them on and pretending to support their cause.

You missed some very basic lessons in school in the subtleties of real life, morals, and complex situations when compared to black and white judgments and laws.

We learnt them at primary school kind of ages, surprising to see adults so incapable of it.

@nevernotmaybe I broadly don't care about people stealing actual food, or trying to get better quality food, if it is obviously for them to eat. I doubt they are selling the eggs for profit.

They are stealing from the people who unknowingly buy an expensive Easter egg which has had the egg swapped out for the cheaper chocolate.

Why is it OK to steal from other shoppers?

Well it's clever, I'll give them that. Did you not say anything to them? Or to the staff? I would have. They may not care about stealing from Tesco but what about stitching up the poor customer who pays for premium eggs only to get budget ones?

I bought a packet of Ibuprofen from Asda a few weeks ago, got outside, went to take a couple and somebody had already beat me to it. 😡

Covid really changed my opinion on most people. I think I'd always taken it for granted that although I'm not a Christian we had Christian values in this country. But that doesn't seem to be the case any longer.