Thievery and such… February 28, 2008

So let’s talk about stealing. Theft. Shrinkage. Five finger discounts.  It’s a problem in any business.  I was watching American Gangster and I thought his solution to the problem was really interesting. Everybody in his drug lab was stark naked. No pockets- no shrinkage.  In my industry that solution would not work. It would also be very unsanitary. I tell you one thing though, the hairnet business would boom. LoL Anyway working with food there is a need to taste to make sure it’s ok but where does a taste turn into stealing? My company defines a sample as two ounces. Anything more than that and you’re stealing which is a fire-able offense. No warning. Just termination.  I will illustrate examples of different ends of the spectrum when it comes to this problem.

Thirteen Cents…

A lower level member of the management team was prepping for breakfast.  He took several sheet pans of apple-wood smoked bacon out of the oven and decided to treat himself to a few pieces. I can’t really blame him. Have you had that kind of bacon? Stop reading and go buy some now.  It is so worth the trip. No big deal right? Wrong. Our store manager came by and asked him what he was doing. His response was ” Just prepping for breakfast and eating a couple strips of bacon.” Next thing he knew he was upstairs getting fired. My boss who sat in as a witness came directly downstairs to warn us of what had just happened and not to let it happen to us.

My friends Tom had a severe reaction to the news “Jesus Christ! What ever happened to a warning?” My bosse’s response was one of those that you didn’t want to hear.  “They don’t have to warn us.  We signed a document stating we read the handbook.  That was in the handbook.” 

Numb shock doesn’t begin to describe how that made all of us feel. Every other place I’ve worked we were chowing down all day long.  We never thought about it but we were stealing.  It’s something about knowing someone got fired for thirteen cents worth of bacon that changes you.

Thousands of dollars…

 One weekend I was off which is huge because I never get two days in a row. When I came back half our meat department was gone.  Reason: They had been fixing themselves t-bone steaks and tenderloins for lunch every day for three months and never paid a dime.  When four people eat expensive cuts of meat everyday for three months that comes out to be a lot of money.  The department had been in the red for a combination of reasons but theft was a big part of it.

So who likes thieves? I don’t.  Although, my mom taught me that you can trust a thief more than a liar since you can count on a thief to steal and you can’t distinguish when a liar is lying. Well I think all of us are thieves in our own way. Eating grapes at the supermarket, stealing change from the toll machines, taking an extra newspaper when you only paid for one, or taking towels or washcloths at hotels. We can’t say

“Oh that’s different.”

because you are affecting someone in some way.  Although it seems like my boss was being harsh for firing that guy he was trying to send a message. Everybody was scared to death to even taste stuff.  No one thought their job was worth the bite.  

Some of you may have noticed I changed the name of my blog.  I was inspired to write this because I stole the title from an ex coworker.  At first I was indignant that it was different and I wasn’t really stealing but when you got rid of all the words only one was left. THIEF.  I don’t want to be that. I want for people to have at least a moderate amount of trust in me like they do at the Self checkout.  No one watches you like a hawk.  They trust that you won’t steal. and although they do check your receipt I’m sure not so trust worthy people walk out with stolen items. That’s not me though. Thirteen cents of bacon, Thousands of dollars worth of meat, Michael Greene’s title.  I need to remove myself from that list. So here I go: Michael, I’m sorry.  Shelf Life is yours. I’ll stick to being original.

 Feeling a little better,

andiepandie31