Shoplifting

I was forwarded this article over at Slate that talked about meat being the #1 shoplifted item at grocery stores. The link was sent from a friend who thought I would be shocked at this statistic, but little did he know that I worked for a grocery store.

In the 6 years that I worked for Safeway, I can vividly recall our store security apprehending a dozen or so people shoplifting meat—anything from a filet mignon down to packages of sliced deli meat. While most tried to sneak meat out of the store with the goods packed into their clothing (it brings a new meaning to having a sausage in your pants), some people tried placing the packages of meat in empty Safeway bags that they had packed in their pockets and tried, albeit unsuccessfully, walking out the front door, giving off the appearance of having gone through the checkout line and having their items bagged. The worst attempt I saw at stealing meat was packing a grocery cart full of meat (and beer) and making a dash right out the front door. Nice try.

Other items that I remember being lifted on a regular basis:

• Cosmetics: Like you wouldn't believe—these are usually higher priced than say food or beverages so when they go missing or unaccounted for, they usually show up on inventories in big bold red letters. People who were caught with these items were usually middle-school and high-school females with the occasional homemaker attempting to sneak out a tube of mascara.
• Baby Formula: This is also another higher priced item, usually running $40 for a 48 oz. can for Infamil. I would say that almost all of the people who stole Infamil were single mothers. Occasionally I would see a baby's daddy getting caught, but I can only recall a couple instances. The one depressing moment I won't forget is the sight of a single mother being escorted by a security guard to the back office while her child is being cared for by a Safeway bagger.
• Alcohol: This item was lifted by all age segments, even old retired ladies, but mostly by teenagers who aren't legal to buy and who couldn't find someone in the parking lot. The funniest attempt I saw was during the summer of 2004, 3 teenagers run into the store directly to a 4^th of July display conveniently located near the entrance to the store, each takes two Bud Light cubes—one for each hand, each one turns and run towards the door, as they are approaching the door one yells out, "drop the cash." One of the teens comes to a halt as the other two escape to the parking lot, the teen inside puts the cube of beer down, reaches deep into his pockets, drops a wad of twenty dollar bills, picks up the cube of the beer, and makes a dash out the door.
  
  Had they paid for the beer, they would have been about $10 short, but the gesture of leaving money behind was uncommon and very funny. As luck would have it, a shopper in the store recognized one of the teens and reported him.
• Sudafed: Before stores kept Sudafed behind counters, they stocked this on the shelf right next to the other cold medicine. When the meth epidemic was in its hey-day, this was probably the most lifted item, more so than meat. Sudafed was always shoplifted by junkies and never by anyone who was sick.