Every now and then, a shoplifter or 2 would come by to visit and relieve us of some of our inventory of clothes.  Some of the younger ones were very polite.  As I stood at the dressing room entrance, one night, I watched the ladies looking at skirts and blouses.  One young girl was looking at the price tag of an expensive white silk blouse.  Suddenly, she came to where I was standing and asked, in a whispery voice, “If I take this, you won’t tell on me will you?”  I was caught off guard by the question, but I told her, “That blouse isn’t worth your freedom or my job, let alone the price.  Why mess up both of our lives?”  She looked at me strangely, put down the blouse, and said, “Okay, just forget it.”

Another time, 2 known shoplifters were in the department.  One of them looked to be about 25 years old, tall and skinny.  She even exchanged pleasantries with me!  I smiled and said, “Don’t get in trouble for this stuff, okay?”  “Don’t worry,” she said, and moved out of the area.  That’s when I saw her buddy, also tall and thin (wearing glasses) at the farthest end of the department, in the corner.  She seemed to be stuffing things down inside of her black stretch pants.  My rooms were empty so, I walked to the register and told the clerks that I was getting a drink of water.  As I passed, I pretended to toss a price tag on the counter, saying, “Take care of this.”  The manager was hotly indignant until she discovered it was a note which read, ‘Shoplifter in corner.’  There was even a description of ther girl.  The good news was that the girl was caught.  The very good news was that no one told me until much later, that the girl had stolen clothes…and had a loaded pistol!

Over the last 30 years, a lot of changes have come about.  That department store and the mall surrounding it have been torn down and replaced by a newer and bigger mall.  Another change is that with a lot of businesses closing and moving away, people just don’t have a lot of money to spend.  More flea markets, garage sales, and other bargain places have opened up.  Think about it.  There was a time when people stole coats, shoes, etc., because their family members were in need, and they couldn’t afford to pay for them.  Nowadays, there are neighborhood yard and garage sales, there are flea markets, which are sometimes a little cheaper.  Thrift stores are almost everywhere for people who just want to get rid of a lot of things, but don’t want to throw them away.  There are also people willing to buy those things.  Many of those items are like new.  From the Amvets, to the Goodwill stores, to the Salvation Army, and other places, nice goods can be bought, cheaply.  For those people with no money, there’s the Urban League and the NLEC, in the downtown area, to name a few.

For those of us who fall just short of qualifying for food stamps and money to buy decent groceries, there are food pantries.  They provide some assistance from month to month.  So, why steal?  About the only thing a shoplifter can get away with is scaring away pantry volunteers, and thrift shop owners/workers, while driving  department store and large grocery store prices higher and higher.  It’s time to move forward and for everyone to work together.  By patronizing these places, (shopping and donating) everyone comes out ahead.  Eventually, even the large department and grocery stores will become more affordable.