What Would You Do?

[Tom]

I would do nothing. Way too minor to even bother thinking about it. Back in the day, some of my Surf Bum friends used to do that regularly to eat. They called it 'forgaging'. Just some Hunter/Gatherers really.

 

[Progster]

I would just not say anything and not get involved, because it's none of my business anyway what someone else is doing and I keep myself to myself. If the police or store manager were to ask me what happened, that would be different, I can't lie about it and I'd have to tell them what I saw.

 

[Judge]

Looks like the largest retailer can and does put quite a spin on the issue of shoplifting. Interesting reading:

Walmart accused of 'legalized shakedown' after alleged shoplifting at Portage store

 

[Fino]

I’m probably going to sound silly but it has taken me a while to see black gray and white. When before I could only be very black and white in my thinking.

You're not going to sound silly admitting you have a sign of ASD on an ASD forum!

 

[Moomin]

You're not going to sound silly admitting you have a sign of ASD on an ASD forum!

Truly? That’s a relief!

Still glad I found this forum and joined it.

 

[Autistamatic]

I've been a retail manager in my time and I can assure you that most big stores are not that bothered. It's a drop in the ocean. The reason that Tesco and other supermarkets in the UK have started offering fruit to kids for free is because it's cheaper than the losses from spoiled packets. I've watched it happen - a mother (or father) grabbing a six pack of crisps or Mr Kipling cakes, take one out to give to each of three kids, then put the rest of the pack back on the shelf. At least if they give them each an apple or a banana to eat for free they avoid the spoilage Tesco look both generous and to be promoting healthy eating into the bargain. Win/Win!
In the UK we can't stop shoplifters of any type whilst they are in the store and we can't contact the police until they've left the store (because there's no theft until they've left). We are also not allowed to lay hands on them even outside the store, nor are the big, burly security guards (they are a deterrent, no more).
The procedure is, spot a shoplifter, then call the police with a description and which way they went when they left. The best arrangement I've worked with was a voluntary initiative in a mall where we would report it to security and to other stores who would make sure the suspects were being conspicuously watched wherever they went. In many cases they would unload their stolen goods in the toilets or into a bin in the worry that the Police were on their way, so the goods were recovered.
So no I don't report it because nothing will be done and the parent is probably hard up anyway.

 

[Daydreamer]

Unless of course the lesson is nothing but a veiled attempt to discourage kids from intentional shoplifting. In that respect perhaps a better lesson would have been to simply chronicle what happens to a minor who is formally charged with shoplifting. From the theft of an item to their sentencing in court.

I actually don't know what the point of the lesson was really. We were in a PSHE (Personal, Social, and Health Education) lesson where we'd usually cover topics such as; anti-social behaviour, street crime, don't do X, Y, and Z...that kind of thing. Just basic life advice.

Somehow we got onto this scenario, I don't think this was part of the lesson plan, the teacher was just improvising, she was trying to make some kind of point.

I do not know the context of the question, but to me it seems like the behaviour of your teacher was very inappropriate

Eh, it doesn't seem that inappropriate to me since my teachers have done far worse. In fact, for that teacher her behaviour in that particular situation was much more appropriate than how she usually acted.

Fire your teacher lol!

*Laughs* At least they weren't as bad as this other teacher I had, they taught us the wrong curriculum for an entire year and I had to redo everything. I laugh about it now, but at the time I was absolutely livid. We got a new teacher (because the other one retired) and no one in that department had caught on that what we had been taught was completely wrong, so when the new teacher found out they had to do some damage control. They managed to get us through two years worth of work in the space of one year. One year's worth of catch-up, and another for the current year at the time.

*Shakes head* Oh dear, most of my education has just been a mess, but I'm getting off topic here.

 

[Otenba]

I don't know how I'd know that they stole the items since people can use various things to help them take things to the till, and if they were eating in the shop, this doesn't bother me either because they might have low sugar levels or something, and so are treating it. I'm not going to follow them just to find out if they took the packet for the food they ate to the till.

 

[Judge]

I actually don't know what the point of the lesson was really. We were in a PSHE (Personal, Social, and Health Education) lesson where we'd usually cover topics such as; anti-social behaviour, street crime, don't do X, Y, and Z...that kind of thing. Just basic life advice.

If it was merely a lesson in basic ethics, I'd say it was a failure on the instructor's part.

Too many variables to consider with the scenario the instructor provided.

 

[Peter Morrison]

I hope you are not losing sleep over this "out-of-the-box" response to your teacher. To start, I will say that I agree with your answer to the hypothetical, albeit realistic and easily understandable situation. We all know that stores throw away food that could be consumed, and they give away samples to get you to buy certain products. The amount of waste is enormous. If we have to identify a crime, I would say wasting food is worse than letting a child have a carrot or some grapes for free.

It appears that your teacher follows a certain philosophy about society and laws. It is a shame that you were not given a chance to open a discussion about laws and social behaviors with your entire class. If there was a moral lesson in the Q&A about what each student in the class would do, it would serve everyone well to debate the opposing views as a group. The teacher missed a real opportunity to educate the students about moral dilemmas and following the law.

I think we could all agree that the store might value the customer's business more than berating or arresting the woman who gave the food to her child. I see that as good public relations. If it's about costs, the money lost by the disappearing carrot and grapes is significantly less than the cost of heating and air conditioning that escapes out the doors that open and close 400 times an hour.

People on the spectrum have a GREAT moral compass. Teachers are people and people can be jerks. I'm glad you spoke your truth. You could have defended your position well.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

I have a bias because a few times my parent did that xDDD( not even for financial reasons lol,they were hungry and didnt wait lol), and one day I argued with my mother to force her to take the bag to the cashier even if she emptied it lol.

The spicy part revolves around how you would react as a kid, because now for me the answer is pretty easy, I dont get in other people business especially if it is a petty crime, I just don't care. And I never witness anything that made me react ( except when people fought at school).

First I'm sure I wont even notice it lol, BUT, if I did, How would I react back then? I have no clue I wont lie.

 

[Daydreamer]

People on the spectrum have a GREAT moral compass. Teachers are people and people can be jerks. I'm glad you spoke your truth. You could have defended your position well.

Hopefully mine is alright as well. I'm not on the spectrum (or at least, not that I know of) but it's a common mistake. Understandable considering that I'm on an autism forum. I'm actually just here to learn more about the condition out of interest, and also to post threads like these if I have something on my mind.

 

[Autistamatic]

People on the spectrum have a GREAT moral compass.

Some do, some don't. You don't have to look far to find people on the spectrum with ignorant and hateful views just the same as the NT world. Being autistic doesn't mean we are immune to stupidity or bigotry. I wish it did

 

[tducey]

Depends on the circumstance. If they're poor and can't afford groceries I'd let her away with it but if she's got money and can afford the groceries I'd report it. As I said, it depends on the situation of the mother.

 

[TempeFan]

It was actually a fairly interesting conversation, although I get the impression that people just wanted me to say the expected answer rather than give my actual opinion on the matter.

I am absolutely certain your impression was spot on and that most of your classmates, who said they would report it, actually would not bother to do so. They just said that because they thought it was the correct answer and didn't want to be the one who went against the crowd.

I have learned over the years to NEVER report anything to a person in authority whose job it is to respond responsibly, especially when someone commits a crime. If you interrupt the manager's or the cop's or the civil servant's or the doctor's or the lawyer's, etc. 8 hour coffee break, they will cause so much trouble for you. They get paid the same whether they do their job or not, so there is little possibility they will take appropriate action or any action at all in any case, other than harassing the honest messenger, victim or witness. They get so annoyed at having to look up from their cell phone and chocolate donut, while you remind them of the job they are ignoring.

My husband would say this:

I would probably just be grateful I have enough of what I have earned left, that hasn't been stolen, so I can still afford to buy food while appropriately sad about how other people's stealing is causing inflation for those few of us who don't steal, of how people keep having kids when they have no intention of financially supporting them or parenting them in any way other than teaching them to lie, cheat and steal; of how other people can just walk out of the store with a giant watermelon they forgot to pay for underneath their cart and I get triple charged for my little stalk of brocolli.

 

[SusanLR]

I'm a Schultz in such situations.
Don't wan to get involved. Don't react to things like this.
I know nut-thing!

 

[Theta.G]

*Laughs* At least they weren't as bad as this other teacher I had, they taught us the wrong curriculum for an entire year and I had to redo everything. I laugh about it now, but at the time I was absolutely livid. We got a new teacher (because the other one retired) and no one in that department had caught on that what we had been taught was completely wrong, so when the new teacher found out they had to do some damage control. They managed to get us through two years worth of work in the space of one year. One year's worth of catch-up, and another for the current year at the time.

*Shakes head* Oh dear, most of my education has just been a mess, but I'm getting off topic here.

Hahaha
I understand, have had experience with the same types. I think
some teachers get into the business because they feel they can make a difference and impart useful knowledge. Then the school board hits them with a bunch rules, protocols and cirriculums. Noticed that other teachers are just good little lap dogs and have utter faith in their superiors. If they gave teachers a little more freedom i'm sure at least some of them would have been able to realize that it was the wrong curriculum Lol xD

1 year later... how do they mess up so bad?

Spoiler

teacher to schoolboard: "uh this is the wrong course..."
school board "NO!
"If you just look at---"
"nnnn...NO!!!"
"uh...ok. by---"
"NONONONONONO!"

 

[Gracey]

If I’m not employed as the store detective or as security watching the cctv then it’s not my responsibility.

 

[Pats]

You know, I've never told on someone for anything, unless it was harmful to another person. People make mistakes. But it reminds me of something that happened a while back. In the 15 years I worked at the hospital, it was the last 3 that I finally made a friend. She was the first to ever defend me. She was funny and we really had a lot of fun working together. Even on a rare quiet night, we'd push each other up and down the hall on a stretcher. We always tried to schedule ourselves to work together and we rode to work together and we did things together outside of work. She was a bit crazy - but fun crazy.
Well, at the end of each shift someone from the previous shift and someone from the oncoming shift had to count narcotics together. Upon counting, I noticed that the 2 mg morphine syringes had some 4 mg syringes mixed among them in a tamper proof container. So I took the package back to the pharmacy to tell them that the company must have goofed in packaging. The pharmacist examined it a little closer and showed me where it had, indeed, been tampered with and fixed back with a piece of nursing tape so small it was unnoticeable. When I seen the tape my first thought was that it looked like something my friend would do, but I didn't say a thing. I didn't even know why I thought such a thing but kept it to myself. I didn't mention anything about the tampering to anyone I worked with, including my friend or my boss because I was instructed not to. Come to find out, it was my friend. I felt terrible and was there to support her at her court hearing, wanting to slip under my seat when her attorney mentioned my presence, pointing me out as being the one to discover it to begin with, but was there to support her.
Of course, my boss tried to involve me in it because she didn't like me - but it was kind of hard for her to get anyone else to believe I had a part in it since I was the one who discovered it and turned it in. We remained friends for a few years, but not so much now for no particular reason.

 

[Graphin]

*Shakes head* Oh dear, most of my education has just been a mess, but I'm getting off topic here.

I love your school stories

For me the teachers who took the curriculum as optional guidelines were either the best or the worst