Some creeps tried to steal my groceries today

[TheProphetess]

I went to my local grocery store to buy a few items (all of them fit into one bag). So, I used the self checkout and right before you can pay, the computer asks if you have any coupons. I hit yes and was told to take my coupons to the cashier. The cashier is at the front of the row and I'm at the last checkout in the row so I had to walk away from my bag and take the coupon to her. Meanwhile, she's preoccupied with some other problem with the first checkout, so I wait there for her to finish.

Several minutes go by and I look over at my bag and notice that the people at the checkout immediately in front of mine (a grungy-looking adult woman and young man) are looking at my bag and talking to each other (apparently about it being left behind or something to that effect). The young man reaches into my bag and starts looking at the items inside. Then, he takes the entire bag and tries to put it into their cart, as he looks around sheepishly. At this point, the computer says "please replace the last item scanned" because I haven't paid yet and it has a weight sensor so that you can't take your groceries without paying. At the same time I holler over to them, "Excuse me, those are my groceries and I'm not finished yet." The cashier immediately takes my coupon so that I can get back and finish up my transaction.

The people never apologized for trying to steal my groceries, nor did they offer up a lame excuse about turning the bag over to the cashier - nothing but red faces when I got back over to my checkout. They knew they were caught in the act and were shitting their pants. What creeps! :mad:

[ThomCat]

1. I'm glad you were alert.

That would have sucked.

It's amazing what people will do when they think they can get away with it. x(

[TheProphetess]

2. Well, it's not like I already had paid or anything

but I still would have been annoyed if I had to go back through the store and re-shop for the same stuff!

It was strange watching someone go through my groceries, too. Thankfully, I had nothing incriminating in there!

[ThomCat]

I'm sure they were wondering about that Jumbo Family Sized

Jug of Preparation H. :P

[ThomCat]

3. Delete. Wrong Place

[TheProphetess]

5. And the "feminine napkins" plus the Monistat cream

and the Summer's Eve douche twin-pack! :rofl:

[Hugin]

4. Self checkouts are an abomination...

Yet another reason they're a bad idea.

Sorry those people were so rude and criminal.

[TheProphetess]

6. Yeah, these ones used to work just fine but they've "upgraded" the system

Now it takes forever to get through a line, even with a few items.

[ThomCat]

7. I hate those self-checkouts because they make you responsible

for their glitches. You have to deal with the slow process and the errors, and there is often no store employee there who can really make sure things work.

[TommyO]

8. The only thing wrong with self-checkouts

are the people who have no clue about how to use them, and the ones who try to check out a huge shopping order with them.

[Hugin]

12. Well, that and the fact they unemploy human beings... nt

[TommyO]

14. The stores that I shop at have both well-staffed registers and self-checkouts

and I make use of both of them when appropriate.

[TommyO]

9. My brother had something similar happen to him over the weekend

He was shopping at Costco and walked away from his cart to pick up some salmon. When he returned to his cart, he found a child and father trying to "shop" from his cart. They apologized, saying they were sorry, my brother replied, "You're only sorry because you got caught."

[TheProphetess]

11. Yikes!

Some people have strange shopping behaviors and quite the nerve, too. :(

[Deja Q]

10. People are getting worse. Rude, snotty, how much longer before the end?

Damn savages.

The sad part is, I know people who'd see the same thing and come up with some cock'n'bull story about how they were not trying to steal - because reality is too difficult for them to grasp, or they have a penchant for supporting riff-raff.

[TheProphetess]

13. There is always a chance that I was wrong and that they weren't trying to steal

I am willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, which is why I handled it the way I did rather than saying something accusatory to them. But, the situation was very clear given their behaviors when taking the bag into their cart and when I told them the groceries were mine - their reactions gave them away, really.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

15. That's awful

Glad you were on top of the situation. Some people have no sense of right and wrong.

[TheProphetess]

16. Thanks

It was a weird experience. :(