Another Grocery Store Tale-"Et tu, Brute!"
74My loss prevention department had two of these security systems installed by my store's two front doors.
I used to manage a grocery store in Hertford, North Carolina from 1992-1994. Yes the same store from one of my previous hubs...."Sharing the same town with Catfish and Wolfman". During this time it became apparent that the store had a serious shoplifting issue. So after many months of begging for some help to stop this problem, the company's lost prevention department finally agreed to install an anti-theft system in my store. On installation day, two guys showed up and installed a security sensor device(see photo to right) by the entrance and exit doors. They then handed me two huge boxes of magnetic stickers...and said "Your system is active....all you have to do now is tag your high theft items and if anybody tries to steal the items the scanner will go off as they walk through the sensors." The whole process only took them about two hours to set up. It was going to take me a considerable more time than that to tag all the high theft items.
So for the rest of the day and evening, my store got to tag thousands of items with a magnetic piece of tape. After the first hour, this process was no longer any fun. Here is a Top Ten list of items people like to steal.
Did you know razor blades are one of the most popular items to steal?
1. All razor blades....the more expensive the greater chance they will get stolen.
2. All batteries.....why pay for them when you can just steal them
3. Cheap wine.... amazingly the better wine never seemed to get stolen....but items like Wild Irish Rose and Mad Dog 20/20....watch out
4. Any 100 count medicine like Tylenol, Advil and Excedrin...
5. Cigarettes.....amazingly back in the 1990s we used to keep single pack cigarettes on a big rack by the registers
6. Beer....especially the 24 pack suitcases.....you would not believe how people would just walk right out the door with a suitcase of beer without a care in the world
7. Pregnancy tests....I never could figure out why so many..... "maybe mommies" and "maybe daddies" would steal this item
8. Tenderloin/Delmonico steaks...well if you are going to steal, you might as well get a good steak....cube steak was not a high theft item
9. Baby Formula.....one case(24 cans) of baby formula is worth over $100 ....evidently a person would steal a case and sell the cans for one dollar each
10. Condoms....I always wondered why the people stealing the pregnancy tests did not just steal the condoms in the first place
Not sure if it is the pretty colors...but MadDog 20 20 is a very popular item to steal.
Around 8:30 that night my babysitter dropped off my five year old son(Bryan) at the store. The store closed at 9:00 each night and sometimes the sitter would have to bring him to the store. So after spending hours of playing with the magnetic stickers, I was playing around with Bryan. I took one of the security stickers and patted him on the back. So Bryan was walking around the store with a security sticker on his back. As we approached the front, I asked Bryan to walk through one the sensors by the front door....knowing that the sticker on his back would trigger the sensor. Bryan got very concerned, and refused to walk through the sensor. At first I was trying to tell him that nothing would happen and that it was safe. But he still refused to walk through the sensor. So then I was trying to convince him ....it will be funny....but he still refused to walk through the sensor. Finally I started to make him walk through the sensor.....when......he started crying.....and then...... the little punk pulled out a roll of lifesavers from his jacket.....he said "I'm sorry I'm sorry".... he was trying to steal a roll of LifeSavers from my store. "Et tu, Brute!"
Lifesavers: Not usually a high theft item....unless you are a 5 year old boy.
Wow...I would have never guessed the first shoplifter our new anti-theft system would catch, would be my five year old son. So when the cops came to pick him up.......just kidding........Needless to say, Bryan was punished for his behavior. Luckily Bryan stopped his life of crime that night. Bryan is now 23, married, serving our country and has a 3 year old daughter. The next day the Director of Loss Prevention called. He asked how the system was working and if we had caught anybody.....when I told him that "So far we have only caught my son"...he replied "Well.... we at least know it works"
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I would never betray my father like my brother did!
A very funny story. Thank your son for serving our country. Thank you for this reading pleasure. :D
Poor kid. Sometimes you just need that roll of Lifesavers. : )
Voted up! Really cute!
HAHAHAHAHA, Bryan! Did you even know there was a sticker on your back? Poor big brother!
Thank you Sunshine.....I glad you were able to get a laugh from this hub....it is funny now, but when it happened....man was I mad....thanks for reading
Thank you Scotty...I appreciate that....I sure your brother did not know what he was doing
KTCAT94....he never knew it was a sticker until much later in his life
Thank you James, I appreciate you stopping by and commenting....I am sure my son will see your compliment about his service soon...as he is very active on hubpages....he is currently serving in Alaska for the Air Force....and he loves his internet
Hey Jeannieinabottle.....yes I guess sometimes the difference between being happy and sad....a roll of Lifesavers...thanks for reading my little story
Now that is a very funny story. So did you start to mark the livesavers next? Thanks for sharing.
When I was reading your story, and when it said ""when I the cops came to pick him up", I was like damn, That is a pretty hardcore manager, glad to see you were only joking. A very funny hub that actually made me laugh out loud. Voted up.
HEY, THAT WAS A GREAT STORY - I REMEMBER IT WELL. IT WAS ACTUALLY FUNNY TO READ IT AGAIN -BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES. BEAUTIFUL...
Great story! I really enjoyed this one. One of my kids stole from a store and they were made to go back, confess, and then pay for it. It never happened again.
Hey YankeesRule....nope we did not start tagging all the lifesavers....actually the whole system of the store tagging the items became the downfall of the system....no extra labor to spend the time to do it.....now....the tag comes with the product....but back then the two sensor devices eventually became only a decoy
Hey hinton. I was not that hardcore...that I would send my 5 year old to kiddy jail...so I broke one of that company's major rules....Never ever let a shoplifter go with a warning....always under no circumstance call the police...thanks for reading
Thanks for reading BERN1960...I find it hard to believe that the lifesaver incident happened almost 20 years ago.
Hey WillStarr....thanks for the compliment, I am glad you enjoyed the story....in my years in the grocery store business.....having a parent bring back a kid to confess....happened about once a month.....but wow when it is your kid....its a whole new ballgame
Keep 'em comin'! I love these stories! Regarding razor blades, where I live they keep them in these weird, plastic lock boxes that require assistance from a clerk to obtain. The condoms aren't locked up though. LOL!!
Thank you Jeanastra for the compliment. In my area.....the condoms that are not behind the customer service desk.....have the same plastic lock box you described. Thanks for reading.
You should have thrown the little punk in jail, lol.
Ha, ha, so funny. I am reading so many funny hubs today and enjoyed this one. Just talking to a friend who works at a local grocery store. People steal steaks and take them to a nearby bar (3 shops way) to sell.
I absolutely love these stories. Cogerson, you are soooo funny and a laugh was just what I needed. Just yesterday I was in the grocery store with my 2 year-old grandson. At some point I turned around and he was eating powdered donuts. He had powdered sugar in his nose, eyelashes, ears, and all over his face. Kids...gotta love 'em.
voted up/funny and awesome
Well since this hub has been released, I the young 5 year old who wanted a lifesaver, have been preparing my defense as the victim of this story. So here goes. He should have just bought me the lifesavers when I asked.
Hey Apple......if he was 6 ....his butt would have been in jail....lol
I am glad you liked the story Dolores....there is a huge black market out there for stolen items that makes millions of dollars from shoplifted items....thanks for stopping by
Good morning Fay, I am glad my story gave you a laugh.....you have to watch those 2 year olds...they have very fast hands...lol. Thanks for the compliment and the vote up.
Sorry BryRog57.....your defense did not work....you went to trial...you were convicted.....and you served your time....sorry we can not expunge your record.....and you should keep your eye on that cute 3 year old you have...especially when you say she can not buy something from the store....thanks for stopping by and offering your side of things.
When I was growing up in Montreal, Canada, there were kids saying "I DARE YOU" in the early years. I was always one to take a DARE. Someone dared me to steel a 5 cent pencil which id did. I HAVE FELT TERRIBLE EVER SINCE THAT TIME - I WAS AFRAID TO TAKE IT BACK. WHEN I WAS OLDER I WAS IN A NIGHT CLUB WITH MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE AND JOHNNY RAY WAS SINGING IN THE CLUB AND MY BROTHER DARED ME TO ASK HIM TO DANCE - GUESS WHAT - I DID AND HE TOLD ME HE COULD NOT DANCE WITH THE CUSTOMERS. I DID GET HIS AUTOGRAPH. JOHNNY RAY WAS A SINGER IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES...
Hey Bern1960.....it is never too late to fix a wrong....you could mail the place you "borrowed" the pencil from an entire pack of pencils....this way you would be paying them back with interest....and maybe that will ease your guilt....lol. I am not familiar with Johnny Ray....but the power of the internet...I will know more about him soon. Thanks for the stories.
I would be very surprised to hear that the store is still in business as that was many many years ago. It was a local store - not a chain like today but thanks for the suggestion Cogerson...WAITING FOR THE NEXT GROCERY STORE STORY.
Freaking hilarious story. I laughed out loud. Voted funny.
I imagine that you thought your eyes were playing tricks on you when he pulled the candy out. Very funny story. Nice grocery store tales you spin.
Hey Bern1960.....it is no longer open...the last time I went through Hertford it was an empty store with a For Lease sign hanging in the window.....that was a couple years ago....so maybe another business is there now
Hey Kelly.....I am glad you liked the story and thought it was funny.
Hey Shaun....yep that was pretty how I felt when he pulled it out....thanks for the compliment
Awesome story, lots of funny little lines you have put in this story. Voted up and funny.
Nice story with a very funny but sad ending.
Thanks for stopping by Yankees Rule....glad you liked some of the little bits of sarcasm that are in the story
Thanks for the compliment xano.
This is a very funny story. It is also bitter sweet as in Britain as likely your end, it has been known that people use kids to steal because they do not get prosecuted under 10 years old here.
Thanks for the compliment Ddraigcoch....that is a shame that they would use under 10 kids that way...thanks for reading my story
Very funny! Voted Up. My life of crime at age 7 was stopped by my mother she took a switch, a branch from a bush, and swatted me with it all the way back to the store where she made me pay for the candy bar and explain that I had stolen it. I wa in tears. Never even considered shop lifting after that.
Hey Multiman thanks for the compliment.....I am glad your life of crime ended at the age of 7, my son never stole again....at least according to him....lol....thanks for reading my story
Lovely and well packaged article which i enjoyed reading from.
Thanks for the compliment Sun-Girl....I am glad you liked my hopefully funny grocery hub
Very well done, I liked this story. It is sad but it reminded me of an incident with my son a very long time ago.
Thank you guest....well hopefully your child did the same as my child and did not repeat the action...thanks for reading...
Sunshine625 Level 8 Commenter 12 months ago
Hahahahahaha!! Totally awesome, funny, UP and tweeted!! Thanks I needed that!!