(no subject)

[serene]

This was posted to a veg list I'm on:

> Be careful. Big brother really is watching:
>
> http://thecompanybitch.blogspot.com/2006/04/banned-from-whole-foods.html

My comment, which awaits the blog owner's approval: "I am boggled at
how many people are mad at the *store* for kicking you out for stealing.
You do realize you were stealing, right?"

Comments

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

The sign says No Nibbling, for sure the person was stealing. Over-reaction at a meatball or not, sheesh!

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Now if they'd asked nicely first, they'd probably have been told to go ahead - but then we wouldn't be able to have this tale of woe...

[baerana.livejournal.com]

yes... that is... odd

every once in awhile I'll see some article or something on how to choose the perfect fruit and it'll say something like "the only way to tell if grapes at a grocery store are good is to try one, and they really don't mind if you do" but even that sort of "grazing" I'm not comfortable with. And at this place, there is no way you could pretend you didn't know they'd mind - the poster admits there is a big SIGN there saying NO NIBBLING! I can't believe the reactions on that board. People saying they won't go there anymore because they tossed out a shoplifter... That makes me sad.

[smashingstars.livejournal.com]

Wow. The sign said "no nibbling" and she took a sample anyway. I can't figure out how she justified this to herself.

Reminds me of Alton Brown, who used to feature Kroger's on "Good Eats". While shopping at a Kroger's, Brown had a box of Krispy Kreme donut holes in his basket, and ate a couple while browsing. That was bad enough, but he apparently laid down the box somewhere and forgot to pick it back up, making it look like he had deliberately stolen donut holes and dumped the evidence. The Kroger's guards took him in for it and he was pissed. It's why he stopped featuring Kroger's on his show.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

And I'm sure you'll get called names for it, too.

Sheesh! Nothing like someone who has entitlement syndrome!

[nolly.livejournal.com]

At the grocery store near my office, there's often someone stocking the produce dept. who will help you make selections, including cutting samples of fruit. But I would never grab my own sample.

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

You know, I have several times had my child eat stuff while shopping in the store, to keep her from going insane during the shopping trip. But we always made sure it was something NOT charged by the pound or ounce (to avoid the problem with the grapes), AND we always made sure to pay for the item at the front, presenting our empty packaging to be rung up. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. But sheesh--you have to PAY for it! I will admit that banning someone for a meatball is a tad draconian, but it sounds like it wasn't ONE meatball, but the equivalent of many over the years. As far as I know, WF *will* give you samples if you ASK for them. But to not ask AND not pay, is definitely stealing.

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

Our local WF have signs that say "Samples, not Supper", and provide sample cups. The "no nibbling" sign made the whole thing clear, though. And regardless of the single meatball, I think that's quite irresponsible and wasteful, and many other bad adjectives to toss out a now-unusable-to-anyone-else portion of food like that. I would have more sympathy if she had tasted a single meatball, and then gone for the sushi. Still be wrong, given the sign, but ... more excusable. Probably more excusable in the store's eyes, as well.

What a waste!

I hope your comment comes through!

[joedecker.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that you're surprised. Near as I can tell, the majority of people on my f'list think nothing of stealing when it's from large organizations (IRS, software developers, the music industry, insurance companies, etc.), this is just more of the same.

In addition to being theft, nibbling out of the food areas is also a little, well, if I saw someone grab a metaball with their fingers I'd wonder a bit if they'd contaminated the other food, if they used a utensil to grab it and put the utensil back, ditto, one reason I'd enforce a no nibbling law if I was selling groceries would be to avoid the small but non-zero effect it has on other customers comfort with the food.

[starsail.livejournal.com]

I was perplexed at the comments blaming the store. I will sometimes grab something to drink while I am shopping but always make sure I give them the container while checking out. And people wonder why prices are always rising.

[deedeebythebay.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* The post...the responses....*shakes head* I have carefully taught my girls that we don't sample unless we ask first (although I admit to tasting a grape from a batch before I buy) and we follow the rules of the signs. Often, now, the girls will catch the signs before I do.

When did stealing not becoem stealing?

[artemii.livejournal.com]

those pro-stealing comments to the post are crazy. i find it so funny how people in comments complained about WF's high prices, when people like the poster are part of the reason they have them!

as people above have said, if i eat part or all of something before i go to the cash register, i take along whatever it would have been rung up with (packaging or whatever). it's not exactly a difficult concept to grasp.

[snippy]

Not only is it stealing, but she's stealing from you, and me, and everyone else who shops there. The store has to raise its prices (to the people who actually, you know, *pay* for the food they take) to cover the losses on the items people steal.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

My favorite comment is the one from the chick who went to WF for lunch and realized at the checkout counter that she didn't have any cash or credit cards. She tried to get them to take an I.O.U., and of course they were having none of it.

So she leaves, and then realizes that she can go to the bank and cash a check. By the time she gets back to WF, of course they've thrown out her lunch. She's all indignant: "They'd rather throw away food than work something out."

Uh, yeah. They'd rather not give you lunch FOR FREE because you hand them a sob story about OMG I forgot my money. And they need to throw out food that someone's handled. This shows that they're evil... how?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I will sample a single grape, but that's it. And never just because I want to try it - it's only if I'm considering actually buying grapes.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

People have even said they wouldn't go to Whole Foods any more. Talk about skewed priorities. I can't believe the sense of entitlement. And then people wonder why prices are so high. I felt like saying "Hey, pal, I *pay* for the food I eat. That's why they let me keep shopping there. If you want your food for free, there's a dumpster out back."

I have done some work for organizations that will feed people for free on food that may have been thrown away otherwise. I would line up for free food made from day-old produce before I would take even one grape that doesn't belong to me. I fail to see how anything else is defensible.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

Every store I've been to will cut a piece of fruit for you or give you a sample of something if you ask them for it. Heck, my wife has asked restaurants for samples of their soup and they've always been happy to provide them. Even Whole Foods has all sorts of sample dishes of cut fruit for people. I'm sure if she had asked someone behind the counter for a meatball sample that they would have been able to provide one.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I won't, not unless I ask permission first (they always say yes).

I was standing ahead of a mother and child once, in a line for getting bulk items weighed. The mother was eating pistachios out of the bag in line. The kid (maybe seven years old) called her on it, and she said, and I quote: "That's okay. It makes up for all the broken ones at the bottom of the bag."

I told the clerk that the woman was eating from the bag. He said he'd take care of it.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I agree, and that's been my experience, too, but even if it weren't so, that doesn't justify taking something that's not yours. And what's worse, *wasting* half of it!

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Another person (people) unclear on the concept. *sheesh*

[loracs.livejournal.com]

In addition to the loss of the meatball, I would add the cost of the fork and container she threw away with it. All those things add up when multiplied by 10, 20 or 100 people a day in a busy store.

Her supporters might be indignant on her behalf, but I wonder how many will think twice before "grazing" at stores now. Publicity can work both ways.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

How difficult would it have been to ask them to hold her lunch for her while she went to the bank and cashed a check? People do make fixable mistakes...I once asked a clerk to hold my groceries for me while I drove 10 miles back home because I forgot my ATM card, and they had no problem putting them behind the customer service counter for a bit while I went back to get it.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[dbubley.livejournal.com]

My dad used to nibble grapes, but he KNEW he was stealing. It's only privileged people that feel entitled to just take. My sister was a regular cleptomaniac. She KNEW she wasn't entitled. She took it anyway, but she KNEW. This woman is clueless, and that really pisses me off, because 10 to 1, she'd be the first to look with disdain at my sister.

Even if I win the lottery, I don't think I'm ever going to feel as entitled as this woman did when she stole the meatball. The attitude reflects where you come from.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

There was one response up there from a guy from London who was arrested for "grazing" as well, and later presented with a bill for $300 to cover the costs incurred from his arrest, including security overtime. Fitting, IMHO. That girl was lucky that ALL they did was ban her.