Pops has moved instances!!!Jan 27, 2019

Godddd stop spreading the propaganda that entry-level retail workers are punished for other people's shoplifting. They aren't! I've worked retail for 4 years at 5 different places (Walgreens, Target - at 2 locations, Sam's, and 2 local places) and have never heard of this happening. Shrinkage is considered part of expenses, entry-level employees aren't expected to stop shoplifting (and are more often explicitly told not to), and this is definitely against company policy at any big chain

I'm sure it does happen under the table or at small businesses, but people talk about it like it's guaranteed every time you nick a drink. It's fucking not, and by saying this every single time someone talks about theft you're doing exactly what the capitalists - including the ones who enact this policy - want. They're holding workers hostage and you're giving in to their demands

Boosts appreciated

Show threadAlexis [moving]

@socalledunitedstates >entry-level employees aren't expected to stop shoplifting (and are more often explicitly told not to)

Can confirm, about the only training I got for my first job (at Mervyn's, may it rot in piss) was "if you see someone stealing, don't try to stop them."

Jan 27, 2019 at 12:14amWeb
Show threadPops has moved instances!!!Jan 27, 2019

@LexYeen And it's obvious why. Just imagine what would happen if these companies told their employees, "you will be punished if anything is stolen, so keep an eye out and call out anything suspicious"

In every single location you'd have employees following and probably yelling at black customers, guaranteed. It'd be a PR nightmare. No big company would make that policy

Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019

@socalledunitedstates And what if an employee got in a fight with someone and there were injuries? It's a liability thing for them, too.

Just for laughs? I went digging in my closet and found my employee handbook. Since Mervyn's died years ago, I figure it's safe to share part of the contents, so here's the entire section on "shortage" - theft, in other words.

(hastily-taken photos of an outdated employee training manual covering "shortage" and how Mervyn's handled it)

Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019

@socalledunitedstates Particularly noteworthy is the clothing subsection of the "Theft: Behaviors to look for" section - never mind the fact that clothing literally cannot be a behavior (WORDS MEAN THIIIINGS) - notice how they also list *visibly worn shoes* as something to look for to identify Scary Potential Shoplifters.

And this was in the late 90s and early 2000s. It can't have gotten any better since then.

Show threadan Even Eveier EveJan 27, 2019
@LexYeen @socalledunitedstates isnt visibly worn shoes like the target demographic of shoe sales?
Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019
@jackofallEves Yup. Plus the quality and wear level of someone's shoes is often considered a good indicator of the wearer's social status and thus wealth in American society, so there's also a layer of "we don't want The Poors in our store" too.
Show threadpinko sockJan 27, 2019
@LexYeen @socalledunitedstates look out for people without purses as if booster bags aren't a thing lmao
Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019
@pinksock The thing that bugs me the most in hindsight? The fucking "Integrity Hotline" where they encourage employees to narc on each other if they suspect theft by saying "hey if we catch an employee stealing from us based on your tip, we'll give you a ~bonus!~" That's a phenomenal way to encourage employee infighting right thurr.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 27, 2019

@socalledunitedstates @LexYeen

this is the same in UK, also for the reason that shoplifters over here may carry knives or other weapons. There are security staff and "town rangers" who wear protective kevlar vests, are trained to defuse situations and have bodycams and personal radios.

The only places where staff might "have a go" are smaller family run businesses but you shouldn't be nicking things from them anyway (there is a problem here with racist thugs robbing from the Asian shops)

Show threadNick ThomasJan 27, 2019
@vfrmedia

Shoplifters carry what now?

We regularly stole food and other stuff from shops when I was young. Never a knife in sight.

Anecdatum: once my mother wandered around the supermarket, shadily hiding all sorts of things in her coat, then went to the checkout and politely asked for a carrier bag. She took all the items from her coat in front of the staff, put them in the bag and left. Not a word was said.

@LexYeen @socalledunitedstates
Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019
@lupine Your mother sounds like an absolute badass. I can just imagine her staring down the nearest cashier to establish dominance as she filled the bag.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 27, 2019

@lupine @socalledunitedstates @LexYeen

you may be a Gen X'er and possibly nearly the same age as me, that was the case in 1990s up until 2000s.

now all sorts of people are carrying knives, not just shoplifters and not just "certain ethnic groups" either. I've personally noticed middle class white lads in their teens carrying knives when going drinking/clubbing "just in case".

This started around the last 15 years..

Show threadNick ThomasJan 27, 2019
@vfrmedia

I mean, I carried knives. Just not when shoplifting.Maybe it's a geographical thing?

@LexYeen @socalledunitedstates
Show threadAlexis [moving]Jan 27, 2019
@lupine @vfrmedia Hey, I'm glad y'all are talking about this, but could you maybe not fill my notifications? Thanks. 👍
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 27, 2019

@lupine @socalledunitedstates

I expect it is, and roughly linked to gang culture the popularity of some sub-genres of rap music in certain areas.

But even when I lived in London and SE England and had many squatters, drug users and all sorts of other more rebellious types as friends carrying knives or weapons was extremely uncommon in any circumstances until the mid 2000s.

(Scotland did do a lot of things to discourage violence in society a few years ago which appear to have worked)

Show threadFunJan 27, 2019
@socalledunitedstates @LexYeen I've only been to one shop where they'd do this. And they seemingly stopped after like a month 
Show threadRuth [☕️ 👩🏻‍💻📚✍🏻🧵🪡🍵]Jan 27, 2019
@socalledunitedstates @LexYeen I mean that does happen to black customers. Not necessarily the yelling, but definitely the following. I agree the “employees are fined for shoplifting” is BS, though other kinds of pressures happen, but pretty much all black people I know have shared at least one story of being followed by employees, sometimes confronted too.
Show threadRuth [☕️ 👩🏻‍💻📚✍🏻🧵🪡🍵]Jan 27, 2019
@LexYeen @socalledunitedstates bringing this up because the “can you imagine” kind of framework is often used to describe things which really do happen at scale and people just don’t know/hear/care.
Show threadPops has moved instances!!!Jan 27, 2019

@platypus @LexYeen Right, I know it does! I just mean it'd encourage that behavior to a much higher degree, and that'd be directly tied to a change in policy rather than "one racist employee"

I admit that was ambiguous, thank you for bringing it to attention

Show threadRuth [☕️ 👩🏻‍💻📚✍🏻🧵🪡🍵]Jan 27, 2019
@socalledunitedstates @LexYeen yeah I agree it would be even more so. And glad we got ambiguity sorted! 👍🏻