“May I see your license?” requested the Home Goods cashier.
“Why?” I asked.
“I think customers are allowed 10 returns without a receipt, then they are rejected for any store credit…?” she was fairly certain, despite her question.
There were three tablecloth charges on one receipt, and the receipt for the 4th tablecloth was laying on my kitchen island at home.
I handed over my license, contemplating the absurdity. Retailers across America are being robbed daily, the thieves no longer running out the doors fearing arrest, nor hiding the items under their coats, but calmly and smugly pushing cartfuls of merchandise right out the front doors. But a paying customer returning a $12.99 tablecloth sans receipt, gets her license scanned into some random retail system to ensure I don’t return more than 10 items without a receipt?🙃
We all know what’s next in this madness…a hard copy letter stating: Dear valued customer, we regret to inform you that our servers were recently compromised during the time period when you visited our stores…” Not just your credit card but also a copy of your license.
Remember when retailers added cameras to certain aisles? You would be perusing nail polish when a sign above reminded, “smile, you’re on camera”! Silly retailers, the cameras were no deterrent for the increasingly emboldened in our country who are unwilling to earn but remain very committed to stealing.
How about sunscreen, razors and toothbrushes sealed in glass cases? Waiting for an employee to unlock a case housing basic toiletries is a time-waster. Like thousands of others, I now order even toiletries online.
Lenders appear to be escalating the issue of financial unaccountability. Friends who have been in banking for 30 years claim extensive credit is being granted to people with either no intention or ability to repay the debt.
In my last Human Resources role, I personally engaged with a group of employees who shared their nonchalant attitude toward racking up thousands on credit cards with no plan to pay. The number of offers with “no proof of income needed” and “no credit checks” are shocking. Someone is paying and it’s not those using fake IDs and bogus addresses.
Good people understand the extensive questioning and background checks required at church before being permitted near children. We accept walking in our socks through airport security to ensure our safety. Where is the line drawn for those of us who are annoyed all-of-the-time running basic errands and living like a normal person in society?
There isn’t one. Lines began blurring years ago. Today, moral lines promoting right and wrong are being erased entirely, dismissed as radical and unfair.
Despite the elevated volume yelling, “bias!” and “unjust!” when simple personal accountability is requested… when paying vs. stealing is expected… ethical people will not be deterred. Robbery in all its forms is wrong.
Click on images for sources.
Paying for Other’s Bad Behavior is Making Me a Little Cranky: Thieves: Stop Stealing. The Rest of Us: Stop Enabling the Thieves
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 
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