So through one of my favorite websites, BoingBoing, I found this blog entry about bag searches at the exits of retailers:
(BestBuy) Receipt Check
Basically, he had a run in with the security folks at his local BestBuy. Been there, done that.
Working retail is a tough, tough gig. I did it while I was in pharmacy school, did it in college, it sucks. People crap on you all the time.
Empathy tells me to treat such employees as well as I can. But still I don't stop for such searches. I shop at my local Fry's in Palo Alto about once a week and I never stop. I don't make a big deal about it, I just continue walking as if they didn't say anything to me. I am polite and as courteous as I can be.
But I'm not a thief; so they can't say they saw me five-finger anything because I haven't. Besides, the guy at the door couldn't have seen or pretend to have seen me do such a thing anyway, which is one of the basic guidelines when it comes to detaining a shoplifter: you have to have seen the guy actually gain possession of the item AND kept him in continuous observation since that point.
The moment I paid for an item, I own it. They don't have any claim to it anymore and it's mine. So why do I need to prove to anyone that I own it? The onus of proving ownership is now on them, not me.
In any case, people will say that it's a minor inconvenience and that I'm not helping any situation by not submitting to such a search. I counter that it's a needless minor inconvenience and one that people should not accept just on principle. I'm not a thief and I'm not going to willingly go along with being treated as one.
If Fry's or BestBuy wants to bar me from entry into their stores in the future because I won't submit to such searches, go nuts. I won't argue that I have no any right to shop where I want solely on my own terms, that's fair enough. But once your PRESENT sale, our PRESENT transaction is complete, sorry but go search someone else who doesn't mind.
Now would I refuse a search if they threatened to call the cops on me? Depends on how much time I have to burn. If I need to be somewhere quick, I'd probably give in and just go on with my life. But if the cops DID show up, I'd fight it. At that point, what do I have to lose? I'd sure welcome a modest settlement for false imprisonment from Fry's or whomever.
But I wouldn't give the cops a hard time. Whether you're right or not, cops are ALWAYS in the right, at least until a court says otherwise. And like it or not, it isn't Fry's security personnel but the police who are the sole entity in our society who CAN lawfully arrest you. So you don't want to piss them off.
Basically, we each have the time to be left alone, especially when it comes to non-governmental entities. My business is concluded with Fry's or Best Buy or whatever store and I'm leaving. You have no right to pester or molest me, I am not bothering you.
It's one of the most underrated rights we have in society: the right to be left alone. This is certainly one of those times I wish Fry's and Best Buy and other stores would remember that.
BTW, if you've ever wondered what those numbers on that big yellow board at BestBuy mean:
... here are your answers:
Retail Secrets: Best Buy Wall Numbers
(BestBuy) Receipt Check
Basically, he had a run in with the security folks at his local BestBuy. Been there, done that.
Working retail is a tough, tough gig. I did it while I was in pharmacy school, did it in college, it sucks. People crap on you all the time.
Empathy tells me to treat such employees as well as I can. But still I don't stop for such searches. I shop at my local Fry's in Palo Alto about once a week and I never stop. I don't make a big deal about it, I just continue walking as if they didn't say anything to me. I am polite and as courteous as I can be.
But I'm not a thief; so they can't say they saw me five-finger anything because I haven't. Besides, the guy at the door couldn't have seen or pretend to have seen me do such a thing anyway, which is one of the basic guidelines when it comes to detaining a shoplifter: you have to have seen the guy actually gain possession of the item AND kept him in continuous observation since that point.
The moment I paid for an item, I own it. They don't have any claim to it anymore and it's mine. So why do I need to prove to anyone that I own it? The onus of proving ownership is now on them, not me.
In any case, people will say that it's a minor inconvenience and that I'm not helping any situation by not submitting to such a search. I counter that it's a needless minor inconvenience and one that people should not accept just on principle. I'm not a thief and I'm not going to willingly go along with being treated as one.
If Fry's or BestBuy wants to bar me from entry into their stores in the future because I won't submit to such searches, go nuts. I won't argue that I have no any right to shop where I want solely on my own terms, that's fair enough. But once your PRESENT sale, our PRESENT transaction is complete, sorry but go search someone else who doesn't mind.
Now would I refuse a search if they threatened to call the cops on me? Depends on how much time I have to burn. If I need to be somewhere quick, I'd probably give in and just go on with my life. But if the cops DID show up, I'd fight it. At that point, what do I have to lose? I'd sure welcome a modest settlement for false imprisonment from Fry's or whomever.
But I wouldn't give the cops a hard time. Whether you're right or not, cops are ALWAYS in the right, at least until a court says otherwise. And like it or not, it isn't Fry's security personnel but the police who are the sole entity in our society who CAN lawfully arrest you. So you don't want to piss them off.
Basically, we each have the time to be left alone, especially when it comes to non-governmental entities. My business is concluded with Fry's or Best Buy or whatever store and I'm leaving. You have no right to pester or molest me, I am not bothering you.
It's one of the most underrated rights we have in society: the right to be left alone. This is certainly one of those times I wish Fry's and Best Buy and other stores would remember that.
BTW, if you've ever wondered what those numbers on that big yellow board at BestBuy mean:
... here are your answers:
Retail Secrets: Best Buy Wall Numbers
posted by Tony Bags at 9:56 PM
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