4 ms·

You seem to be falling prey to the binary thinking flaw of security thinking. This is basically the normal way people think about security without education on

You seem to be falling prey to the binary thinking flaw of security thinking. This is basically the normal way people think about security without education on the subject- "It's either completely secure or completely insecure" In reality, security works through modifying the probability and impact of certain outcomes. So if the store had another employee who could walk around, watch, and talk to customers the social pressure alone will decrease the frequency of theft. It would also reduce the impact (size) of the thefts because someone couldn't carry as much as possible out the door, the employee would be able to knock some of it off the stack, etc. And yes! It wouldn't stop someone who was willing to kill for convenience store food. But events like that are less common and potentially not worth the cost of prevention.

hotpotamus 3y ago
GP made it sound like the cashier is already watching this happen, but yes, I've been the one walking around and observing customers for my Grandmother's estate sale business, but that's because it was helping my grandmother out; I doubt you'll find many people willing to do that for minimum wage. And I also doubt many store owners want to pay the wage and health insurance costs for an employee to hang out and observe/chat with customers. I doubt any even fractionally-rational human goes into a store willing to kill for food, but shit can go sideways instantly when you start engaging in physical confrontations, particularly in a country where firearms are trivially obtained and carried; it's a latent threat in nearly any situation in the US.
- anigbrowl 3y ago
  There's always plenty to do in a retail store - things to the tidied on shelfs, floors to swept, and so on. You're not asking a poor suffering retailer to pay someone to do nothing while getting shot all day.

hotpotamus 3y ago

GP made it sound like the cashier is already watching this happen, but yes, I've been the one walking around and observing customers for my Grandmother's estate sale business, but that's because it was helping my grandmother out; I doubt you'll find many people willing to do that for minimum wage. And I also doubt many store owners want to pay the wage and health insurance costs for an employee to hang out and observe/chat with customers. I doubt any even fractionally-rational human goes into a store willing to kill for food, but shit can go sideways instantly when you start engaging in physical confrontations, particularly in a country where firearms are trivially obtained and carried; it's a latent threat in nearly any situation in the US.

anigbrowl 3y ago
There's always plenty to do in a retail store - things to the tidied on shelfs, floors to swept, and so on. You're not asking a poor suffering retailer to pay someone to do nothing while getting shot all day.