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?

things are getting worse and will do.

There's a bug story at the moment about Waitrose security guard tackling a shoplifter he got sacked

Just to point out. My son works the checkouts at tesco. Would tell him to ignore. Risk vs reward

I saw a couple with 2 older children load a trolley full in Morrisons and walk straight out. They swiped a Christmas tree as they left. No one stopped them and loads of people saw them go. They got in to their 2024 7-seater people carrier and left.

The same week, in the same supermarket, 4 male members of staff chased a homeless man around the store as he tried to steal a 2 pint carton of milk. He dropped it down his joggers and it fell out the bottom as it was so heavy. They kept chasing him and 2 of them piled on him before frog marching him out of the store.

I don’t understand why you didn’t tell the staff.
Last week I was going into my local supermarket and a woman picked up a tray of plants and just went to walk off. A few people just stared but I told her to put them back. She started saying that she was a bit stuck for money and needed them but she put them back. I then told the security guard in case she tried again.

I've been thinking about this thread a bit whilst getting fuel and some essentials in Sainsburys and concluded that I have absolutely no issue with the egg swapping couple. If I saw this unfold I would feel understanding, and certainly not shame or embarrassment for them. I would not be bothered if I witnessed stealing at all. I get it.

I work in retail. We get just over minimum wage. Its in the city centre. The shoplifters are either professional or off their faces. Do you really think im going to approach them when I see them stealing?
Absolutely no way.

Understanding about what exactly?
They were swapping cheap eggs for posh eggs.
Nothing to do with starving or poverty. They were being CF.

Then someone else is going to pick up the box of the higher priced eggs that they left that are actually the cheaper ones.

I confess I now wish I had said something to a member of staff, though I suspect most would have said "okay" and done nothing. Not to blame them, but I just don't think it's high on their priorities. But you are right, I should have made that their decision.

I am not sorry for not confronting the couple myself. The best that would have happened is I would have been laughed at, and I wasn't going to follow them round the store or forceably remove the eggs from their trolley.

I guess this just proves people's point that the thieves have all the power. I do feel bad now though.

Agree, it would have been better to have just stolen the eggs rather than swap them, but my reaction remains, I get it.

Wow. You clearly missed your manners lessons.

Of course there are grey areas but unless you know the person who is doing the stealing you have no way of knowing why they are doing it. Someone stealing formula for example could be doing it to feed their child or they could be selling it on.

If I see it happen, I’m reporting it. The circumstances aren’t actually for me to determine.

Haha good shout, but unfortunately they’re very different so they would be able to tell. I’m no egg connoisseur but I do love a Clarence Court and the darker , more speckled shell is a dead giveaway

Understanding of what? They are so poor that whilst they can afford eggs, those aren’t good enough so they have to steal the good ones and pay a lower price?

They are still thieves and can’t even claim they can’t afford to eat.

I'm ex retail ,working in a shop should be fairly mundane,do what the boss wants doing,help customers,get paid ,go home.
It shouldn't be ordeal of abuse and violence .

No consequences for dishonesty and it starts at the top. When we get lied to, ripped off by self interests, see the rich not paying their taxes, seeing corporations avoiding their responsibilities, getting burgled and no police response, see violent assaults and serious crime not getting punished, ome people mimic the lack of any moral compass and do things like this.

That's awful. I hope the magistrate found a way to find him not guilty, or if not then the court staff had a bag of shopping for him to take home with him when he left.

If the couple today had been sneaking a cheap box of eggs, loaf of bread and packet of ham I would have understood. The thing that got to me was the pettiness that they were willing to pay for eggs, but they wanted to end up with better eggs than they were paying for. It felt like one-upmanship rather than a couple on the breadline.

I daren't even not declare a carrier bag 😭 Did it for the first time about a month ago and was waiting to be arrested all the way home... Never again!

I have told members of staff when seeing this sort of thing before.... only to be rhe recipient of a shrug and a "there's nothing we can do and head office have told us not to challenge people like this and risk us getting hurt".

This lack of shame, and the corresponding knowledge that if we challenge it we risk ourselves, js a huge problem in our society and I worry about it a lot.

I challenged a man for leaving his rubbish on the train the other day. I wasnt rude or aggressive. He got very aggressive eith me and told me it wasnt his. I have no idea if he was telling the truth. I suspect not because if he was, surely a rational response would just be, "its not mine". I am not sure what he expected but I felt like he wanted to get into a physical altercation. I just ignored him. But it sums up the problem.

Actually I was wrong, I wouldn’t report someone old or if I knew they were homeless. I would however report anyone else (and have)

How should people have stopped them?

If they did have a car, it would be on CCTV and the supermarket would have reported it to the police.

Easy to live your life by that last sentence. Others care, and will put themselves out there to do so.

How quickly will you drop that idea if the consensus would hold it against you? It's not up for you judge the circumstances ICE would take someone away in the US, would you be there reporting people?

That’s a hell of a leap.
Consensus of whom? General public? MN? People I care about?

I don't understand the people saying to tell a member of staff. Firstly, they could get violent and/or abusive; secondly, they're surrounded by eggs, which would not be pleasant to be pelted with; and thirdly, if all they can be sure of is that some items from two sections were tampered with by miscreants, their strict H&S rules might stipulate that they have to throw away everything on those two shelves.

I always pick up my intended egg box and open it to check for broken ones - making sure to gently wiggle them all to make sure they're loose, as sometimes they break underneath and you don't find out until you get them home and find they're firmly stuck in the box and make a huge mess (as well as losing some of what you've paid for)... but if I check an egg box and it isn't to my satisfaction, I just put it back and decline to buy it - like any product.

But you just said you didn’t know if it was him that dropped it?

I would only report someone if I saw them stealing

Presumably if there is a H&S rule like that, there is some reason for it. I would absolutely have reported - thieving scum

You should have said something to them or to security, OP. You’re part of the problem!