So many places with so
many cameras. It’s near impossible to filtch anything more than a grape
at the grocer’s. And you can’t touch anything at the big box hardware store
without setting off an air raid siren.
There’s an upside to
this and a way to retaliate.
First, the upside.
Certain electronics and appliance retailers seem to think you’re a self
driving car. You can’t find sales help for love nor money. Here’s how:
go to a display where everything is wired down and disconnect the wire.
This will set off an alarm and help will be on the way in seconds. Just don’t break anything permanently. You
don’t want to have to pay for a new wire.
Now the retaliation:
Wear a body cam. If they can photograph you, you can photograph them, right?
Well, maybe not. But it’s worth a try.
Are aisles too narrow?
Tripping hazards? Take a picture. You don’t even need a full-scale body
cam for this. Your cell phone will do.
Or your flip phone, the disabled one in a drawer that you just never got rid
of. Go ahead and charge it up.
But the body cam is good
for finding
-employees snoozing in a
corner.
-employees being rude to
you.
-other customers being
rude to you.
-adults stealing candy
bars to quiet little kids or sitting US Presidents throwing loud obnoxious
tantrums.
-cashiers holding
conversations with other customers instead of moving the line quickly.
It is true that with
almost few actual workers, some stores are experiencing increased thieving.
Wal-mart has resumed using greeters who welcome you on the way in and
check your receipt on the way out.
They don’t check every
customer. They don’t have an explanation for those they do or don’t
check. An informal and strictly anecdotal review indicates that if you’re
an African American male with a large object, you’ll get checked. If
you’re a teenager of any gender, race, religion, creed or color, you’ll get
checked. If you’re an old white guy in a motorized shopping cart, no check.
Hmmm.
We’ve received no answer
to an inquiry about the standards they use.
In olden times,
department stores would hire store detectives. They’d dress in civilian
clothing and pretend to shop for eight hours in a row. Any thief worth
his or her salt could spot these folks from 50 yards away.
In at least one of the
defunct discounters, detectives would dress like criminals. The men wouldn’t
shave. The women wore no makeup. Sometimes they’d hide in hollow fake
pillars with one-way glass sides. Other
times they might sit on a couch or chair in the furniture department reading a
book or magazine or newspaper.
No one ever shoplifted a
couch or, for that matter, a refrigerator.
The cameras in the
ceiling are much more efficient. But, of course, that means someone has to be
watching the monitors. We don’t know for sure that the “cameras” are connected
to anything. But it’s the ones you can’t spot you have to worry
about. The ones stuck to the back of a
shelf. The one in the bathroom stall.
You don’t have to be a
cop to own and use a body cam. And fair’s fair.
I’m Wes Richards.
My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Comments? Send ‘em here:
wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2019
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