I wish I could hear that conversation..

[SuperB]

...the one going on right now in the car of the little teenybopper that I just busted for shoplifting... with her dad standing at the counter!


She was probably 14 or 15 and her dad and a younger sibling (I assume) came in first to use the bathroom and get snacks. He was nice, eating his candy bar at the counter so I wouldn't forget about it when I rang everything up. Then mom and stickyfingers come in and while mom's waiting for the bathroom, stickyfingers is over where she thinks she's out of sight, sticking key chains in her pockets.

I wait until I know for sure (bad camera angle) and asked the dad if they were all together as I'm walking over to her.
I walk up to her and tell her, "I have cameras" with my hand out. She knew what I meant. She slowly pulls out one... "All of them" two more come out.. "is that all?"
'That's all' she said. Then I told her she needed to leave. I walk back around the counter, past dad and I'm shaking as I don't know how parents will react to their kid getting busted right in front of them but he was pretty nice about it. Shocked, but nice. He asked what she did and I showed him the handful of key chains.

He was pissed.... "We just went through this not 10 minutes ago!" He said.
Someone's not going to have a fun holiday weekend.

[marty]

Wow, she sounds like she's a smart one! If they just caught her doing it previously, she couldn't be very intelligent to try it again...

I think one little klepto needs her turkey dinner taken away!

[Alpha Strike]

...
He was pissed.... "We just went through this not 10 minutes ago!" He said.
.

Okay, so your kid just got nailed for shoplifting 10 minutes ago and you're allowing her to wander around in a new store?

Hrmmmmmmm.

[gunsage]

Surprisingly, I never had the compulsion to steal stuff, even as a kid. In a GAME, however...

[bainsidhe]

Someone I used to work with now owns a small novelty store herself. Her business partner (aka, boyfriend) caught a tweenie trying to steal some action figures. Gotta love technology and video cameras. Well, he called the kid on it. Funny thing is, the kid bolted and was tackled....by his DAD. Dad was furious! I love it when parents take an active role in pointing out their kids suckiness. Sounds like SuperB's little thief really wasn't getting much flack for it though. Especially if she just did it 10 minutes before.

In another instance, our CSM made a litle girl cry. A 4-5 year-old stole a pack of gum and Daddy came hauling her back into the store to apologize and have management explain why stealing was wrong. (He was actually quite nice about it, so he wasn't an angry jerk or anything) So CSM P talked to her and the child was crying. It's only funny because nothing really bad happened and all the cashiers were secretly applauding papa for taking responsibility for his kid and making her learn and own up for it. Sad to say, but soooo many parents would just blow it off (seen it way too often) and just pay for the gum (if at all) and call it that. He, in the meantime, was trying to be proactive in teaching right from wrong. Less likely this little one will grow up with entitlement issues, one should hope.

[Bagga]

When he said "We went through this 10 minutes ago" maybe he meant that she had asked him for the cash to buy the items and he had forbidden it?

If she was shoplifting with his encouragement, I expect he would have told her how to do it better, and if he had already suffered embarrassment from her previous shoplifting, she would have been a lot more circumspect about it, imho.

[crazylegs]

Having pulled in more shoplifters than I can actually remember, this doesn't suprise me, that her father didn't go apesh1t.

The only more embarrasing way to get caught is on a school trip, where tha teachers are informed, and *then* your parents. Try explaining that one away.

[MamaMootz]

A 4-5 year-old stole a pack of gum and Daddy came hauling her back into the store to apologize and have management explain why stealing was wrong. (He was actually quite nice about it, so he wasn't an angry jerk or anything)

This happened to me when DD was 4. She stole a candy bar from the rack while I was unloading, paying, and bagging my groceries. I think she thought that she could just take what she wanted, because when we got to the car, she said, "Look what I got, Mama!" while waving the candy bar in front of me.

I was horrified and loaded the bags in the car, grabbed her with the candybar and brought her right up to the service desk, where I told her to give the candybar back to the clerk. The clerk wouldn't take it back, though - I guess health regulations? I don't know. The clerk looked at me like I was nuts for bringing her back in and teaching her this was wrong.

I ended up buying the candy bar because the clerk wouldn't take it back, but DD got a stern lecture and I ate the candy bar in front of her. She hasn't done anything like it since. I dread the teenage years.

[princess4life]

There was one time I was shopping with my kids it was chilly out and I had walked to the store down the street so my kids where wrapped in blankets sitting in my double stroller I paid for my stuff and walked home. When I got home my son got up from the stroller and dropped a candy he had hidden under the blanket (he was 4 at the time) I got so mad I walked him right back to the store with out the stroller and made him pay for the candy because it was open and apologize for stealing. He was in tears the entire time, but now when I go to the store he doesn't even try to touch the candy and it has been 2 years. I plann on keeping that fear in him.

[Shabo]

When you are 4/5 years old, you probably don't understand entirely how the shopping thing works. By making the kids go back and either pay for the item or return it to the store, you are teaching them that it's not ok to steal, and they (hopefully) stop.

The girl in the story was 14/15, and DEFINITELY knew better since the father was peeved that the girl had done it AGAIN. So totally different circumstances.

[SuperB]

After they left I moved the key chain rack from where it was to a spot across from the register, exhanging it with a Timms Chips rack (they make noise when you try to hide them ) and then re-watched the recording. I didn't notice who the mom was talking to but on their way out (I let stickyfingers use the bathroom before leaving), mom was asking the little thief if she still wanted a candy bar!

Oh to have that moment over again and tell mom what I thought of her parenting.

I understand the dad being low key while in the store and waiting to take it outside, I tend to be like that with anything resembling confrontations in public, but no way, on Gods green earth, would my kid have gotten anything after pulling a stunt like that.

[ShinyGreenApple]

In another instance, our CSM made a litle girl cry.

That's nothing, one of my managers caught an 8 year old shoplifting one time and said "That's it, he stole, he's going to jail" and called the police on the kid. Was it harsh? Maybe and maybe not, but this particular manager is a 'take no shit' type and allows no one to screw him over and get away with it. While it was probably really scary, even though I doubt the cops actually hauled the kid away, I imagine the chances of him pulling something like that again are very slim.

[Imogene]

I dread the teenage years.

*blinks, blushes, and giggles, in that order*
"No, honey, you can't sleep with Timmy, and, just to show you, I'm gonna sleep with him in front of you."
Yergh...

[Saydrah]

Oh, my, that's precious getting caught in front of the father.

Though I sometimes wonder if it would be better karma to steal from Barrierbetweenroomsmart than to shop there and give them money on the rare occasions something you want is only found there.

[Jester]

I dread the teenage years.

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

I plan on keeping that fear in him.

A bit of healthy fear is good.

It's kept at least 2 of my nieces (somewhat) in line.

Not that they fear me PHYSICALLY. They know I am incapable of hitting them....well, hitting them seriously, anyway. Often smack them on the top of the head....as they do to me as well.

No, they fear me scaring a boy they are dating enough out of his skin that he will never come back. And they know I am fully capable of doing just that.

To badly paraphrase Gordon Gekko:

"The point is, ladies and gentleman, that fear, for lack of a better word, is good. Fear is right, fear works. Fear clarifies, cuts through, and captures the atttention of the teenage spirit. Fear, in all of its forms; fear for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of teenagers behaving."