NT, how would you react?

[realrubirosa]

I don't incur much racism because I don't act suspicious when I go into stores. If you noticed, I said race is a factor--not the factor. To everyone saying that they were followed because they were black, that's not entirely accurate. They could have been followed because they were young people who were wearing baggy clothing that is conducive to shoplifting and acting suspiciously by trying to evade an LP agent. Those elements alone would get anybody followed. The fact that they were minorities may not have been a factor in this particular case.

Stereotypes are not always born of ignorance. If most of the young black kids in baggy clothing and act suspiciously that come into your store steal from you, it's perfectly logical to profile them as a likely potential shoplifter and keep an eye on them. Are some stereotypes born of ignorance? Certainly, but that comes from ignorant people. The example I just gave uses logic, not racism. A lot of you are delusional about how things actually work in the world and see things from a very narrow perspective. I'd like to hear another person who has actually ran a store or knows somebody who has chime in on this topic and tell you how it really is on the other side of things.

 

[realrubirosa]

I don't incur much racism because I don't act suspicious when I go into stores. If you noticed, I said race is a factor--not the factor. To everyone saying that they were followed because they were black, that's not entirely accurate. They could have been followed because they were young people who were wearing baggy clothing that is conducive to shoplifting and acting suspiciously by trying to evade an LP agent. Those elements alone would get anybody followed. The fact that they were minorities may not have been a factor in this particular case.

Stereotypes are not always born of ignorance. If most of the young black kids in baggy clothing and act suspiciously that come into your store steal from you, it's perfectly logical to profile them as a likely potential shoplifter and keep an eye on them. Are some stereotypes born of ignorance? Certainly, but that comes from ignorant people. The example I just gave uses logic, not racism. A lot of you are delusional about how things actually work in the world and see things from a very narrow perspective. I'd like to hear another person who has actually ran a store or knows somebody who has chime in on this topic and tell you how it really is on the other side of things.

 

[reggie4three]

^ Retail Sheep

People in retail take their jobs a little too serious. I mean, what's the most expensive thing you could steal from a grocery store anyway?

 

[reggie4three]

^ Retail Sheep

People in retail take their jobs a little too serious. I mean, what's the most expensive thing you could steal from a grocery store anyway?

 

[realrubirosa]

Originally Posted by Reggie4Three

^ Retail Sheep

People in retail take their jobs a little too serious. I mean, what's the most expensive thing you could steal from a grocery store anyway?

Grocery store items, in terms of dollar amount, account for a quarter of all the stolen goods in America. There was a special NBC about it recently. People hire a bunch of people to steal random stuff--especially baby formula, medicines and razor blade cartridges (small, yet relatively expensive items)--and resell it all online. The biggest ring they featured (something like 15 people involved) was making over a million dollars a year in profits.

 

[realrubirosa]

Originally Posted by Reggie4Three

^ Retail Sheep

People in retail take their jobs a little too serious. I mean, what's the most expensive thing you could steal from a grocery store anyway?

Grocery store items, in terms of dollar amount, account for a quarter of all the stolen goods in America. There was a special NBC about it recently. People hire a bunch of people to steal random stuff--especially baby formula, medicines and razor blade cartridges (small, yet relatively expensive items)--and resell it all online. The biggest ring they featured (something like 15 people involved) was making over a million dollars a year in profits.

 

[willmatic]

look at those youtube comments too man.

 

[willmatic]

look at those youtube comments too man.

 

[trhee]

 

[trhee]

 

[mfoy23]

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

 

[mfoy23]

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

 

[shinkuhadouken91]

Originally Posted by mfoy23

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

good stuff, you handled it the right way in not getting physical/stupid

 

[shinkuhadouken91]

Originally Posted by mfoy23

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

good stuff, you handled it the right way in not getting physical/stupid

 

[prymone]

Originally Posted by shinkuhadouken91

Originally Posted by mfoy23

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

good stuff, you handled it the right way in not getting physical/stupid

id sue

 

[prymone]

Originally Posted by shinkuhadouken91

Originally Posted by mfoy23

I was followed at this store by this manger guy so I hit the corner and stood right there when he turned he got all stunned when he saw me hit the corner I asked why he was following he mumble something I was like whatever and he offered to ring me up so he can get me out there as I am paying for my stuff I pull out my employee discount card and gets all shook when he finds out I work there. He really starts to apologizing now and as I am leaving the Store director comes up to me and congratulates me for being employee of the month. That manger felt so dumb I was told it was his first week on the job since I been off a few days he didnt have the chance to meet me yet.

good stuff, you handled it the right way in not getting physical/stupid

id sue

 

[fig neutonn]

Originally Posted by sloanboy

Originally Posted by BroComeAtMe

Originally Posted by RealRubirosa



He works there, he has all the right to follow them around as he pleases. There's no law saying that loss prevention employees need to be polite.

This.
it's his job....

its his job to be racist? Its obvious he did this because they were black and dont even think about saying he would have done this if they were white.

It has nothing to do with race. This man was just following them because its his job and they look suspirious. Black folk get mad at me when I check there 100 dollar bills with the pen and the light. So if the guy following them was black, would that have made it ok? Or what if he was a jew or what if the kids were gay. Would he be judging them too?

 

[fig neutonn]

Originally Posted by sloanboy

Originally Posted by BroComeAtMe

Originally Posted by RealRubirosa



He works there, he has all the right to follow them around as he pleases. There's no law saying that loss prevention employees need to be polite.

This.
it's his job....

its his job to be racist? Its obvious he did this because they were black and dont even think about saying he would have done this if they were white.

It has nothing to do with race. This man was just following them because its his job and they look suspirious. Black folk get mad at me when I check there 100 dollar bills with the pen and the light. So if the guy following them was black, would that have made it ok? Or what if he was a jew or what if the kids were gay. Would he be judging them too?

 

[bastitch]

Originally Posted by PanaRicanRetro

Originally Posted by RealRubirosa

Originally Posted by sloanboy

its his job to be racist? Its obvious he did this because they were black and dont even think about saying he would have done this if they were white.

Is it obvious? You don't think the fact that they're two young people in hoodies walking around the store like they were trying to lose the guy wasn't the least bit suspicious? Have you ever worked in retail? Awkward behavior is one of the biggest signs that loss prevention agents look for. Even if they were stealing, do you think when they asked why they were being followed that they would have confirmed the man's suspicions and tell him they were stealing? Of course not. Most thieves, when confronted in that situation, deny, deny, deny and then go into some sort of stereotyping-is-wrong spiel.

I swear people pull the race card without even thinking...

With that said, you can't be totally disassociated with the world and not see why race can be factored into the profile of a shoplifter. If you worked in the store and noticed that most of the people stealing from you happened to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and be of a certain race (usually black and latino, but even white or asian with an "urban" influence), then how long do you expect LP to not add that into the profile? It's just raw fact that young minorities and the like shoplift more often than older non-minorities. The profiles are not racist but they are indeed race-based, but profiles and stereotypes aren't built from nonsense--they're built from experiences, ignorance. 

I'm a minority member (sort of, Latinos are supposedly becoming the majority) and I'm totally understanding of why LP agents do what they do and that they don't mean harm to us, but rather are looking out for their business. Trust me, if every person they followed that fit the classic shoplifter profile ended up going to the register and paying for their items, they'd probably stop using that profile... but the people of that profile don't always pay for the stuff (as the story posted above supports) and the profile lives on.

Don't like it? "Be the change you wish to see in the world," as Gandhi said.

**fixed



I'm curious as to how much racism exactly you've encountered in your life. Maybe it's where you grew up or you've just bought into what white people have been feeding you or whatever, but there's no excuse for being that harassing to someone in a store.  Loss Prevention is a joke half the time.  Guys that couldn't make it onto the police force, but they want a job where they can power trip and take out their insecurities.  I've worked in enough retail operations to see it a few times over.  I remember my first job was in Sports Authority and our LP guys were as racist as it gets.  They'd spend all day following every black and latino around the store, and it was pretty obvious.  They'd get customers yelling at them constantly.  They very rarely caught anybody.  FF a few months, they hired some black dude that looked like D-bo and wasn't profiling races, just looking for whoever looked like they were up to something.  Caught 3 shoplifters his first week on the job and they were all 13-16 year old white kids.  There's no profile for a shoplifter you have to go by their behavior.

At least someone is able to articulate not only what happened was wrong, but why it was wrong. You wrote everything I was thinking about typing out as I was reading through the thread.

Thanks, Pana.

 

[bastitch]

Originally Posted by PanaRicanRetro

Originally Posted by RealRubirosa

Originally Posted by sloanboy

its his job to be racist? Its obvious he did this because they were black and dont even think about saying he would have done this if they were white.

Is it obvious? You don't think the fact that they're two young people in hoodies walking around the store like they were trying to lose the guy wasn't the least bit suspicious? Have you ever worked in retail? Awkward behavior is one of the biggest signs that loss prevention agents look for. Even if they were stealing, do you think when they asked why they were being followed that they would have confirmed the man's suspicions and tell him they were stealing? Of course not. Most thieves, when confronted in that situation, deny, deny, deny and then go into some sort of stereotyping-is-wrong spiel.

I swear people pull the race card without even thinking...

With that said, you can't be totally disassociated with the world and not see why race can be factored into the profile of a shoplifter. If you worked in the store and noticed that most of the people stealing from you happened to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and be of a certain race (usually black and latino, but even white or asian with an "urban" influence), then how long do you expect LP to not add that into the profile? It's just raw fact that young minorities and the like shoplift more often than older non-minorities. The profiles are not racist but they are indeed race-based, but profiles and stereotypes aren't built from nonsense--they're built from experiences, ignorance. 

I'm a minority member (sort of, Latinos are supposedly becoming the majority) and I'm totally understanding of why LP agents do what they do and that they don't mean harm to us, but rather are looking out for their business. Trust me, if every person they followed that fit the classic shoplifter profile ended up going to the register and paying for their items, they'd probably stop using that profile... but the people of that profile don't always pay for the stuff (as the story posted above supports) and the profile lives on.

Don't like it? "Be the change you wish to see in the world," as Gandhi said.

**fixed



I'm curious as to how much racism exactly you've encountered in your life. Maybe it's where you grew up or you've just bought into what white people have been feeding you or whatever, but there's no excuse for being that harassing to someone in a store.  Loss Prevention is a joke half the time.  Guys that couldn't make it onto the police force, but they want a job where they can power trip and take out their insecurities.  I've worked in enough retail operations to see it a few times over.  I remember my first job was in Sports Authority and our LP guys were as racist as it gets.  They'd spend all day following every black and latino around the store, and it was pretty obvious.  They'd get customers yelling at them constantly.  They very rarely caught anybody.  FF a few months, they hired some black dude that looked like D-bo and wasn't profiling races, just looking for whoever looked like they were up to something.  Caught 3 shoplifters his first week on the job and they were all 13-16 year old white kids.  There's no profile for a shoplifter you have to go by their behavior.

At least someone is able to articulate not only what happened was wrong, but why it was wrong. You wrote everything I was thinking about typing out as I was reading through the thread.

Thanks, Pana.

 

[Nouss]

There's no profile for a shoplifter you have to go by their behavior.


My thoughts exactly.

 

[Nouss]

There's no profile for a shoplifter you have to go by their behavior.


My thoughts exactly.

 

[yanky]

I definitely would've confronted the guy about it after the 3rd aisle.

 

[yanky]

I definitely would've confronted the guy about it after the 3rd aisle.