To parent comment and yours, I think it's that the work vs results only merited pursuing it if it were a higher charge. There were enough organized theft rings

To parent comment and yours, I think it's that the work vs results only merited pursuing it if it were a higher charge. There were enough organized theft rings that it kept loss prevention busy, without doing reams of paperwork for misdemeanor theft. And yes, internal theft is a huge issue. Because retail salaries usually don't compare favorably with the kickback you could get out of running a return scam, etc. As to the kid and the joke, I'd like to think it's black humor. You can only wade in the squalor of people repeatedly and constantly making shitty moral decisions for so long before you start seeing all people like that. And at that point, all you can do is joke. I mean, what, best case you alert the kid you're onto him. And then what? Better than even odds he tries again anyway.