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Did you see someone shoplifting? No you fucking didn't, narc.

EDIT: Okay, so just grabbing a top level comment to dispell some misinfo.

Stealing baby formula to onsell online does happen: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/02/magazine/money-issue-baby-formula-crime-ring.html

Parents stealing baby formula out of desperation also happens: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/the-desperate-reality-of-stealing-baby-formula-because-you-cant-afford-it_uk_64635704e4b09eef8308cfc6

The problem here is that baby formula is something people need to feed their babies, and our society has decided that if you don't have enough made up arbitrary tokens, you don't get to feed your baby.

If I don't know 100% that the person I saw stealing baby formula is doing it as part of a crime ring, then I'm not going to ruin a parent's life because they did what they needed to feed their baby. Even then if the crime ring is selling it at a discount then I don't particularly care to stop them either.

If you want to tell people that shoplifting is such a problem and you want to focus on the crime rings and ignore the poor people, your priorities are messed up. Also none of you know how to source your claims. Also, don't start with some BS about how nobody ever does it to feed their baby, that's just false.

In conclusion:

Did you see someone shoplifting? No you fucking didn't, narc.

Oooh yeah sorry I have face blindness, even if I saw the person again I'd never recognize them soooooooo sorryyyyyyyyyy

Or medication or hygiene products or toys or actually anything. The store is not paying me to care.

1 can, sure.

2 cans, maybe.

But when I see some asshole load up a cart and start booking it towards the nearest fire door? Yeah, I'm stopping you.

Unless they lock that shit up behind a cabinet. I took this photo today and it almost made me cry.

In my experience, being a victim of crime makes people less empathetic and more likely to favor “tough on crime” bullshit policies. This is why California is seeing a rise in Conservatism and progressive DAs are getting voted out. Sadly the progressive DAs were never helped or supported by other arms of the state legislature that could have attempted to solve the root cause of the issues (hint it’s not that some people suck)

In America at least, the small business owners may or may not be a part of the problem, depending on whether they’re voting GOP. The big businesses are definitely the problem as they mindlessly favor shareholder loyalty instead of community loyalty.

Ideally you’d want voters to be empathetic to the plight of less fortunate, and vote for progressive change. That doesn’t help someone who is hungry now, so I suggest donating food items to the local bank or community for the short term help if you really want to help the poor, and voting progressive candidates into office for the long term help

In general all countries need to remodel towards market socialism, otherwise you’ll always have the national security dilemma for any kind of policy change

I could not possibly give less fucks if someone steals from a name brand store. Little mom a pop shops, I might care a little bit, but any nationwide chain? Fuck them.

If I see someone stealing from someone else, I will definitely have fucks to give. But I'm not going to shed any tears if someone walks out of a Walmart with shit they didn't pay for.

These fucks gouge us every chance they get. They raise prices mere days before a "sale" so they can slap a x% off sticker on something and sell it for full fucking price. I do not have any sympathy for them at all.

I fucking hate this take. It's so middle school edgy it cuts my cringe receptors into pieces.

I get what you guys are trying to say but most people aren't stealing to feed their babies or provide them with diapers. Most of the people are stealing so they can sell it on the streets. Where WIC and welfare can't help pay for it.

I swear, have any of you been poor ever?

The only time I've ever cared about someone shoplifting was when they stole from the store i was working at and, this is the important part here, tried to act like i was too stupid to get they were stealing. My dude, i don't care if you are stealing, just walk out, i couldn't stop you even if i cared, but please skip the stupid excuse making.

I mean, same, but for different reasons than most of the people in this thread. Obviously if someone is stealing out of necessity, that's understandable - but regardless of motive, I'm not going to speak up about theft in any case except maybe a mom-and-pop store where I both personally know and like the owners, because loss from theft is something that stores necessarily need to address and plan for in their own business model.

I'm not the store's fucking employee, and if the store is expecting customers to pull double duty as security guards or lookouts, they're fucking deluded. That's not going to fix what is essentially a problem with the safeguards in place - if the ship is leaking, asking the passengers to bail water is a temporary and unreliable solution. This is a business transaction; I'm here to get and pay for the shit I need, not watch over the shit I don't for the sake of your bottom line. Sort your own shit; you've got an entire firm's worth of resources to figure it out. I'm just trying to get by without pulling labor for every fucking firm I go to.

So You turn into a double pirate?

If you're really feeling based.. you can help them out too. I'm not saying you are required or should feel obligated.. but hey, helping people eat is a pretty decent thing to do.

Very Ethical Life Protip: If the baby formula is locked up, the cabinets used by most retailers use a universal lock and you can buy your own key pretty cheap.

Crenshaw but based.