Four Year Old Shop Lifter!!

[truckemup97]

Amen to that. What you got at home was way worse than anything the principal could have done. And that was when corporal punishment in school was an accepted practice.

Yep. My aunt was a teacher at our little country school, so Mom was usually waiting on the porch with the belt when I got home. That was way worse than the principal's paddle.

As to the security guard, yeah, he went a little overboard. No children were harmed, but everyone involved would have been better off if he had simply had a quiet word with the parent.

 

[bshepherd]

I raised my children to not do this. If my child had done what this child is supposed to have done I would have paid for the product and been on my way. If I was approached by a security guard and he attempted to take my four year old and me back into the store in the manner he did he likely would be missing some teeth or worse if he persisted. Its good he was fired. Now he can go occupy something with folks of similar mental ability.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Count me with the security guard for taking them aside and calling it to the parent's attention (or inattention), I'm not sure that I understand the goings on beyond that, but who knows how much history there is or what is really going on. As the kid, I would have properly received an unforgettable "life lesson", not an apology from the store.

 

[Thuer]

Give a nucklehead a stick and you have a wwII Capo.

 

[feralmerril]

Once again guys, I remind you of my last post on the matter. A roomfull of reporters can and will write and twist the same story whatever direction they have a personal adjenda for. I am 70 + years old and just starting to learn. When I was young I probley was as much or more judgemental than best/worst of you. With age, watching the news and personnal experiance I find myself less judgemental every day. Yes, perhaps the guard was immature, but on the other hand the reporter could have been immature with a adjenda against rent a cops for reasons from when they were kids. I did that work for 35 years, that should qualify me for a opinion too.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, and I'm wondering if Kroger might have infiltrated the security operations at Safeway for the purpose of banning little children from shopping at Safeway for their entire life. It's all making sense now...

 

[cotton]

Read the story.
Security guard in hot water over treatment of 4-year-old shoplifter - seattlepi.com

What do you think? Did the security guard have a serious lapse of common sense? Or lack of training?

One thing is clear. Mom and dad weren't paying enough attention to their little girl.

seems that this security guard might be qualified to be next director of tsa or some other big govt security dept

 

[feralmerril]

I belive he should do as well as eric holder?

 

[DeadAye]

OK - The guy over reacted.
In some countries he might have cut her little hand off
Now THERE'S something to get cranked up about.....

Hopefully EVERYONE involved in this little fiasco has learned a lesson.

 

[oldman45]

Sorry guys, I am on the side of the guard. The store is likely on the side of the parents strictly because of trying to be politically correct.

I see some people all the time breaking into food items in stores and eating the contents before putting the empty container back on a shelf.

I have had several instances where a child or children would steal items on behalf of the parents. Adults know young kids will not be prosecuted and if even caught, they can blame it on age of the kid.

Children properly raised know long before age four that they are not supposed to take what does not belong to them. I also doubt the child opened the items alone.

The guard likely gave the child the only guidence in the right direction she ever had.

Shoplifting and in-store consumption costs each of us money. About three weeks ago I witnessed a rather large lady take a pint of cole slaw from the frozen food section. She then went on the soft drink aisle where she took three spoons from her purse, opened the cole slaw and she and her kids began eating the contents. After the container was emptied, she placed it behind a stack of soft drinks and walked away with her kids. I was there looking at an injury site with some attorneys and we all were amazed by the actions of the lady. Her kids may be older versions of the four yr old.

 

[feralmerril]

Durring world war two mom raised me alone in a old large country store in a small village in wisconsin. I was a small tyke and remember I was taught to not take cookies out of the cookie case etc, when people were in the store because probley customers couldnt afford stuff for their kids.
My mother was born into the general store business. She also was a fireball her entire life. She was absolutely fearless and would light into any man. Once a gypsey band came in. Ma caught a gypsey woman ripping stuff off, grabbed her and bodely threw her out. The gypsey wished a wart on her nose and ma claimed she got one! Another time the folks ran a resort for a short time. They hired a band and the guitar player for some reason called mom a B----. She grabbed his guitar and broke it over his head!
Here is a old snapshot of her and dad in front of the store evidently the day they got married in july 1937. I also found another thumbnail picture of mom, dad and some uncle and aunts standing in front of the store. My grandpa, moms dad is on far right.

 

[mkk41]

I still get ticked when I see the news , and some thug , er , poor underprivledged , misguided , misunderstood , inner city youth(sarcasm) gets shot by a legally armed citizen during a robbery or home invasion or police while in the commission of a violent felony , and points a gun at them. The parents , relatives and 'reverands' are all marching to stop the violence , ban guns , and crying that "he was a good boy , they didn't have to kill him!" , even though he had a lengthy and violent arrest record since the day he could walk.

 

[mg357]

If i may add my .02 cents i think that the security guard could have handled it a little better.

 

[Faulkner]

If i may add my .02 cents i think that the security guard could have handled it a little better.

Could be . . . but if the parents had taught the little munchkin that stealing is wrong there never would have been an incident for the security guard to mishandle.

 

[feralmerril]

Untill later years in california I lived a sheltered life. At some point I started even seeing security guards in burger kings! When I was a boy I never seen barred windows, then I went through St lewis etc. It`s now a sorry day when even small business`s have to hire a guard! 50 years ago no guards were in DMV`s, post offices and court houses. The younger people are born into it and expect it. To me it`s a shame and disgrace to see that we need it! And yes, I did it myself for almost 36 years, but not in a mall but at a huge defendse plant and a movie studio. Do you know what cost that adds? If a guard gets say the minimum, $12s, the business probley pays his contractor $20 to $25s a hour or so. Maybe I am behind the times and it well could be more in the big citys. They have to pass that on to the customers. Small business`s really get hurt by that. This is mostly because of shoplifters. Like any and all thieves, they will steal stuff they dont need just because they think they can pull it off. Probley most of the stuff gets thrown away! What gets me, even some well known millionair movie stars shoplift!
I hate a shoplifter as bad as I do a burglar that will break into your house. It costs everyone. I am no expert on at what age kids understand, but I do think the parents should have educated them by four years old. I am sure I was! If they havent, its probley because they think its cool themselves.

 

[badam0112]

The guard should have pepper sprayed her first.I mean she could have been concealing a toy I mean weapon. She probably needs probation on top of the banning.

Where or where has common sense gone?????

 

[USAF385]

When I worked customer service, I saw kids do the same thing on a few occasions. I simply told the parent's that their kid opened candy and they would have to pay for it. Each time the parents did pay, apologized, and scolded the kid. The end. Never had any problems.

 

[Thuer]

And that is the way to do it.

 

[Maximumbob54]

I find that children in the age of around 2-5 that have octopus arms seem to always be spoiled to some degree. You can always spot the well behaved and well disciplined kids by the degree of octopus arms syndrome they have.

As for security guards that have as yet illiterate four year old children scrawl a little something on a paper telling them they are now banned from all Safeway stores… Was this the guy that got beat up on a regular through high school or the jock that now that he's out of the football spotlight can't get the local PD to sign him onboard??? This isn't a PC issue, it's a moron issue. I guess telling the father that his kid just opened a package and put it back was too simple of a solution.

 

[feralmerril]

Well bob, you sure have the ground covered on that one. From the guard either being a wimp picked on in high school to the high school jock?