Do you eat before paying at the supermarket

Here's a local story that went national.

"The highly-publicized story of a pregnant Honolulu mom who was arrested last week with her husband after she ate a sandwich in a Safeway store and forgot to pay, leading to the couple's 2-year-old daughter being taken away by Child Welfare Services."

I was just wondering what people on the message board thought. Personally I would wait to pay and then consume outside of the store.

No.

DonDiego does not consume anything before he pays for it. He does not open anything before he pays for it. He is conscientious when he picks up produce and vegetables to test for freshness or ripeness, . . . and is careful not to, f'rinstance, place his nose against a melon.

If DonDiego breaks something, . . . onetime he dropped two bottles of iced tea, . . . he pays for them, even if the manager says he doesn't have to.

Other behavior would be dishonest.

That said, and even considering the mother probably did not "forget" to pay, having one's daughter taken away by Child Welfare Services seems extreme.

She just forgot to pay? Right.

That is like saying that I meant to take the food out of my pocket at the check out stand but forgot about it.


I did watch a guy get wrestled to the ground for stashing meat in the front of his coat.

My wife will sometimes drink something while shopping, especially if her blood sugar is running low, and then run the empty or half empty bottle through the scanner with everything else. I find it strange, but apparently it is not an uncommon practice.

People who eat before paying have "no class."

I see people at our local Walmart go to the deli and get bone in fried chicken and eat it while they shop. I want to hit them.. I really do its freakin nasty.

I haven't done it in a long time but I used to get a loaf of fresh baked French bread when first entering the local grocery store. The bread was irresistible to me. An empty bread wrapper was put through the scanner at the end of the shopping.

A few times we've noticed things in cart while putting the groceries in the car that we didn't pay for. To go back in and say we forgot to pay would seem to violate the spirit of the 5th amendment. One time it was a comb. Another time it was a greeting card. In the circle of life, the free comb and greeting card make up for the time we forgot to put the case of soda in the car and left it on the underneath shelf of the cart after we paid for it.

Where was the wrapper or container that the sandwich came in? Was it still in the cart or did she get rid of it somewhere? Once merchandise is concealed whether it be in a purse, coat or in your stomach it is by law considered shoplifting and the person can be arrested. I have worked in the grocery business for over 30 years and see this kind of thing all the time. I would have to side with the store manager on this one.

Hmmm,i don't think thats so,at least not here. It's not considered shoplifting until a person is exiting(walking out the doors) not theft til then. Sometimes a person has there hands full and stuffs something in there pocket and pays for it at check out. I've done this and IN NO WAY have any intention for not paying for it. I've seen people tackled at the doors a few times never before.

JOHN

In Florida, the stores wait until the person exits without paying before stopping them. Only way to prove "intent".

I sometimes "graze" my way through the store, munch on grapes or something, but always pay and never have a totally empty wrapper. In fact, I usually end up buying more when I do, because I'll also grab a beverage from the cooler to consume and wash down the cookies or whatever. The empty always goes through the scanner.