Who stole the cookies from the cookie store?

[EvilAuthor]

So I recently got a nice new job at a cookie store. It's a pretty sweet job, pun intended.
Anyway, last week I was working alone and an Indian woman walked up with her children and ordered six cookies. I bagged them up and set them on the counter.

ME: Alright, that will be $2.43, ma'am.
SC: You take credit cards, yes?
ME: Yes we do.

She hands me a card, I swiped it through the machine and set it on the counter. Normally when the card machine beeps when the receipt prints, so when I heard the beep, I looked down only to see the card had been declined.

ME: Your card was declined. Do you have another method of payment?

Look up, the woman was walking away with her children.

ME: Hey! You didn't pay for those!

She walked faster.

I yelled for her to come back, and she and her kids took off. Because of the way our store is designed, I'd have to jump the counter if I wanted to go after her, so I couldn't really do anything about it.
The cute blue haired guy at the jewelry store across the hall took off after the woman for me, but he lost sight of her when she went into one of the department stores.
I personally don't see the point of robbing a store for such a small amount. If you're going to steal food, it makes more sense to do it from a store that actually sells food and not snacks.
The nice blue haired guy from across the hall came back empty handed, but I gave him a free cookie for at least trying to help.

[Apathy]

I've never really understood petty theft either. If you're going to steal something, make it something that will set you for life.

"What're you in for?"
"Stealing cookies."

[karath]

I've never really understood petty theft either. If you're going to steal something, make it something that will set you for life.

"What're you in for?"
"Stealing cookies."

I would love to see how their cellmate would react to that.

But seriously, WTF? Less than $2.50 in cookies? That's not worth the effort!

Oh, Evilauthor, did she leave her card? I don't think you mentioned that. That would have made that even more pointless, since (if you were so motivated) you would have her name and could potentially track her down and charge her with grand theft cookie

[EvilAuthor]

I would love to see how their cellmate would react to that.

But seriously, WTF? Less than $2.50 in cookies? That's not worth the effort!

Oh, Evilauthor, did she leave her card? I don't think you mentioned that. That would have made that even more pointless, since (if you were so motivated) you would have her name and could potentially track her down and charge her with grand theft cookie

Sadly no, she made it off with the card and cookies...However, thanks to the miracle of paperwork, her name was on the receipt that printed out saying her card was declined.
If they so choose, the home office can go after her for theft.

[friendofjimmyk]

Grand theft cookie! That's silly goodness!

[RetailWorkhorse]

Geeze, what is the world coming to that people's gotta steal 2 and a half bucks worth of cookies?

Now I want a cookie and I have none. Darn you, Boardsmembers and all your ranting about food (I'm lookin' at YOU, Draggar, and your depression on Cadury Creme Eggs)!

[Becks]

If they so choose, the home office can go after her for theft.

What are the chances of that happening?

[ArcticChicken]

Dammit!! Now I want cookies. Wait....I have chocolate chips and flour! Yay, now I have cookies (almost).


In other news, the single most bizarre theft I've seen while stocking HBA is a single razor blade from a package of store brand razor blades. Why steal just one? It's not like its harder to steal the rest.

[Difdi]

I personally don't see the point of robbing a store for such a small amount. If you're going to steal food, it makes more sense to do it from a store that actually sells food and not snacks.

You see this sort of behavior all the time in online RPGs. People's reputations in that medium are their most valuable possession, but a lot of people don't get it. So you see petty thefts all the time...in fact, for reasons I've never understood, despite the fact that any theft will wreck your rep, the more petty the theft, the more likely someone is to trash their rep over it. If someone will trash their rep over things they don't really want much, and don't need, what will they do for things they really do want a lot or actually need desperately?

Very few real life thieves weigh the benefits of their crime against the penalties of committing it either.

You can analyze almost any given crime on a cost/benefit basis. If I do X, and the penalty if caught is Y, am I making a profit? 99% of all thieves come out behind minimum wage on this. Rob a store of $1,500 and go to jail for 2-5 years. Assuming minimum sentence and minimum wage, you'd make many times what you stole, even after taxes and expenses, for the number of hours you'll be imprisoned. Or if you do X, and the fine for it is Y, if X < Y, then X is not profitable.

The average thief also puts in more effort to try to beat the system than they do trying to work with it. It's not uncommon to see a thief put in a couple dozen hours of work to steal an amount of money they'd make even at minimum wage in half that time. For example, the guy who dug an underground tunnel into a storage shed, to steal items in the shed worth (collectively) less than he'd have made in the time it took to dig the tunnel (very hard labor), working at minimum wage for Walmart.

[friendofjimmyk]

Anyone else hear "who stole the kishka?" when they read this thread or is it just my weirdness?

Has anyone else ever heard that song? It's a polka.

[jerkface11]

This is why I always train my people to keep the card in their hand until it goes thru.

[Stryker One]

Sadly no, she made it off with the card and cookies...However, thanks to the miracle of paperwork, her name was on the receipt that printed out saying her card was declined.
If they so choose, the home office can go after her for theft.

I bet the card is stolen too.

[Evil Queen]

I bet the card is stolen too.

Beat me to it.

[mariamousie1]

You should have held on to the card to get her name. Thief.

[monolayth]

mmmmm...yummy cookie goodness that is white chocolate.........