‘Have a good day!’: Grocery store employee catches shoplifter but legally can't do much to stop them, so a homeless man comes to the rescue

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Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Oct 30, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

Violence is never the answer, kids. We all know that. It's 2024, even our laws now show that we know that! It's not like the old days when arguments were expected to be settled over a few good swings and then a reconciliation. Now, if you even so much as flick a guy on the arm, you could be sued. There are goods and bads to it. I think overall, violence is not the answer and most things can be solved with empathy and patience. That being said, I have also met people who I have tried to have a genuine conversation with about a situation, but you can just tell that they would benefit more from a punch to the face. Sorry, not sorry. If you get what I'm saying, then you'll probably understand this Reddit story we came across. Grocery stores deal with shoplifters all the time, and usually, it's a delicate situation, because stealing food goes deeper than just having sticky fingers… But in some cases, there are consequences. For instance, this shoplifter who almost got away with it until a homeless man stepped up. Read the entire situation below! 

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  • 01
    "He was on his feet in seconds and full body tackled the shoplifter..."
    via Unsplash+ (and Oxana Melis)
  • 02
    Just Full on Tackled Him A Funny Thing Happened... At work the other day I was bringing one of our mobile carts in from outside. It was the perfect timing for me to witness a shoplifter running out with an armful of groceries.
    via LinnyFabulous
  • 03
    Now, I'm not allowed to touch them or do anything to try to stop them when I see a shoplifter. All I'm allowed to do is scold them. So I did. "Stop! That is not okay, you did not pay for that!"
    via LinnyFabulous
  • 04
    He doesn't listen to me, of course. I don't expect them to, it just makes me feel a little better to say something. What I really didn't expect was what happened next.
    via LinnyFabulous
  • 05
    A homeless man had been camped out by the doors, using our awning to stay out of the rain. He was on his feet in seconds and full body tackled the shoplifter, took him straight to the ground. I just kind of sat there for a second, but then I started picking up the dropped products.
    via LinnyFabulous
  • 06
    The shoplifter was shouting for me to do something, to get the guy off of him. So I told him the truth. "I'm sorry, sir, this man is not an employee. He is a free citizen acting of his own volition. The same rules that prevent me from stopping you mean I cannot put my hands on him. Have a good day!"
    via LinnyFabulous
  • 07
    thearticulategrunt Hopefully your managers thanks the homeless man with a gift of some usable produce that can go back on the shelves. Or maybe a back of store stocking/cleaning job. LinnyFabulous OP I bought him a hot meal from our deli and a couple bottles of water. Not a lot, but it's something
    via thearticulategrunt
  • 08
    No_Nefariousness4801 I would have paid to see that. Am glad that he wasn't injured. Main reasons they won't let retail employees physically intervene are: fear of being sued and fear of the employee getting injured or killed. I am a realist, I know it's mainly the getting sued part, but, at least some of the coworkers would probably feel bad if a coworker got hurt stopping a thief.
    via No_Nefariousness4801
  • 09
    safeway1472 It was more fun in the old days (80's & 90's). The idiots that chose to shoplift at night and got caught were risking getting roughed up by night crew. If they were compliant they'd just call the cops. If they thought it was a good night to throw down, got their beat. I'm not sure how much people know about the folks on night crew, there's always one in the bunch that aren't all there. We had two brothers that were rednecks, they lived for that Aw the old days. We had a whole lot les
    via safeway1472
  • 10
    WackoMcGoose The best "customers can say, and do, what we can't" story in a long time. I hope you offered to "hire" him as an unofficial door guard, he's certainly got the spirit for it!
    via WackoMcGoose
  • 11
    MandaRenegade I worked at a grocery store during the height of Covid, so many people were trying everything they could to try and steal something. One kid loaded up a cart with $3000 of liquor and baby food and tried to make a mad dash. We had the same rule you do, we cannot touch them. But my amazing coworker stopped the CART he was pushing and literally did the "naughty naughty" finger waggle at him! I was at my stand watching the whole thing, the kid tried to shout for management saying cowor
    via MandaRenegade

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service industry story dinning server waiter grocery store employee funny server tipping fine dinning server life dining experiences waitress restaurant work restaurant server service industry funny dinning grocery store
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