Returning to the Scene of the Crime

After reading SingingGal's comment on the blog, I decided to go back to Wal-Mart and let them know what I witnessed. I had to go to Wal-Mart anyway, so it wasn't a special trip or anything, but I knew what I needed to say.

After making my purchases I went up to Customer Service and asked for the manager. After introducing myself to the manager, I explained the situation. I could tell from the beginning that he already knew about what I had seen, and he immediately responded with, "Well, they're supposed to let us know, but we can't accuse anyone of stealing."

That stopped and made me pause. When I worked at a grocery store in college, we were actually trained to watch for theft and how to handle it! When I went on to explain about the scale saying something about extra item on the scale, he said, "Well, it always tells them to check the cart at the end of the purchase." I looked at him and said, "No, I mean in the middle of the order she was stealing and the scale was making note of it, and your employee just said, 'well, the scale is extra sensitive' to the thief." He just looked at me. Then it clicked. He still maintained that she is not to confront and that they are to let management know, but they are not allowed to accuse anyone of stealing.

His comment caught me off-guard, but I went on to explain my concerns about the gal in charge of all the self-checkout lanes that day. I told him I wasn't out to see her fired, but I thought that if she couldn't handle that situation, then perhaps that isn't the best position for her in the store. He said he would see who was working that day and see if perhaps there was a better position for her to fill in the store.

As I walked away from the discussion, I didn't necessarily feel in my spirit that this guy took me seriously. However, I know that I did my best and did what I was supposed to do.

On the drive home, one thing hit me. In what I witnessed Sunday, I learned how to steal from Wal-Mart. I won't, I'm not like that, but it made me wonder what what would happen if my Lostboy had seen that. He steals now, but to see that a checker can't confront a customer would excite many of my former students who don't have the highest aspirations in life. Is it any wonder our society is where it is? Hum...

By the way, when I said to the manager that video surveillance could easily show that my story was true, he blew that off saying that the video recording isn't the most reliable...gosh, it's a good thing I'm an honest gal...

Once again, even when you don't understand life...

Life.
Is.
Good.