<p>I find this a fascinating issue, and I did a couple of Google searches to see what I could find out. What I mostly found was multiple other discussion boards having essentially the same conversation, with the same points of view being expressed. I didn’t find any clear guidance on whether this is “shoplifting,” but I did find some claims that it is. I’m too lazy to actually research the law. I did find the following cautionary tale, which you can take or leave–I’m skeptical about it:</p>
<p>Hunt, All this shows is that you can theoretically get in trouble if you think you’ve paid for an empty wrapper , but the cashier doesn’t ring you up. If the person had checked his receipt, it would not have been a problem. But that’s no different than walking out of the store with <em>any</em> item the cashier fails to ring up, open or not. At any rate, it doesn’t show that eating something before checking out is illegal, just that the cashier screwed up and the guy wasn’t believed.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a shoplifting issue at all…it’s just comes down to why some feel the need to open a bag of cookies or whatever when they will be out of the store in a half hour.They really can’t wait until the item is paid for?<br>
As for kids, bring them a container of Cheerios. There is just no good reason to open up anything in the store when you will be out of the store in a short while…IMHO</p>
<p>If you are constantly hungry while shopping, eat before you go…problem solved.</p>
<p>^then wait until you get home… I hope you bring a dust pan and brush to clean the crumbs off the aisle floor…lol</p>
<p>I don’t know, just the thought of every shopper munching away as they push their carts down the aisle is disturbing…just grosses me out. I guess I just believe that food should be consumed sitting down.</p>
<p>This is one of my top twenty pet peeves. I was behind a woman in Trader Joe’s who walked into the store, headed immediately to the bananas, tore one off and handed it to her under 5 daughter. I glared at her, but she was oblivious. So special!</p>
<p>IMO:</p>
<p>Children should be taught delayed gratification.
Children can be rewarded for good behavior AFTER leaving the store.
This is another example of the sad state of manners in the world.
It reminds me of every child getting a trophy in sports for just showing up and breathing.</p>
<p>I think we should all worry about our own manners, rather than those of other people. Glaring at someone else? Who are you?</p>
<p>My kid walks around the supermarket every Friday night eating the second half of his sandwich. He’s happy and I’m happy. By the way, I can’t imagine getting out of a supermarket in a half hour. Never, ever less than an hour for us.</p>
<p>Obviously kids can be taught delayed gratification and no one should take products that don’t belong to them, but appointing oneself the supermarket behavior police is also right up there with obnoxious and rude. I have an expression that I often use “if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, sometimes it’s a fat guy in a duck suit selling used cars.” By which I mean sometimes you can be absolutely positive of what you are seeing and still be totally wrong. Best to keep yourself to yourself unless someone might be injured.</p>
<p>JazzDrumMom: may I suggest a different perspective? The child has, in the past, run down the grocery store aisles and grabbed a box of cookies and torn them open, then had a complete meltdown when Mom took them away, leaving both of them sitting in the aisle, crying in complete exhaustion. This time, when Mom realized that they were both exhausted, she instead got her child a healthy snack–a banana–BEFORE they started shopping, thereby enabling both of them to get through a stressful but necessary stop.</p>
<p>Why do I suggest this? Because twenty-off years ago, I was the mom crying in the grocery aisle.</p>
<p>Sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to shop in the perfect time and circumstances. Perhaps there is a new baby at home or a sick dad or some other truly compelling reason why mom had to shop right then. Maybe the mom is married to the manager of the store and warned him ahead of time or maybe she even works there herself and knows what to do. Who knows except that woman?</p>
<p>Let’s remember that this thread started with somebody asking whether this practice was common where the rest of us live. The answer is that for some of us, it isn’t common at all, and what’s more, we were taught not to do this. Anybody is free to disagree and think that it’s OK, but we are also free to think what we want about manners and to discuss what is or isn’t a nice thing to do.</p>
<p>But surely we all agree that it isn’t right to eat something that has to be weighed before paying for it?</p>
<p>This just shows that practically the action is illegal. Some shop may allow this illegal behavior but that doesn’t mean it becomes a legal activity.</p>
<p>It’s like a city police department might not crack down on certain crimes (generally in vice department) but that doesn’t mean it becomes a legal activity.</p>
<p>It’s sad some people just don’t get it and think of not enforcing mean legalization.</p>
<p>Did I try to go to the grocery store without my kids when they were little? Yes. Did I try to make sure they were fed and well rested before we went to the store. Yes. Did this happen 100% of the time? Absolutely not! If I could bring a snack from home with me, I would. But sometimes life wasn’t so neat and simple.</p>
<p>I have promised myself that I will never look glaringly at a mother with young children if the kids are out of control. I will only look with compassion. There were plenty of days when I was there and was doing the best that I could. Grace is a wonderful thing.</p>
It’s absolutely not right and it does happen often in my area (which is one of the reasons why I shop in another state!). I am also not a fan of opening and eating something then paying after (my son’s sandwich has already been paid for before I let him eat it). In theory I agree that kids can/should wait and that things should be paid for first, but I just don’t think anyone can know what’s really going on with someone else at that exact moment.</p>
<p>As I think about this more, I think that it might be (technically) illegal, and it might not be. Certainly, until you have paid for the item, it doesn’t belong to you. So it could be unlawful to consume it. On the other hand, it could be that the law considers expressed intent, and that so long as the package isn’t discarded or concealed, intent to pay is assumed and no crime has been committed. The law could differ on this from state to state.</p>
<p>But obviously, it would be nutty for stores to enforce this against people who intend to pay, beyond (perhaps) asking them not to do it.</p>
<p>Dmd77, please see RCW (Revised Code of Washington) 4.24.230 “Liability for Conversion of Goods from Store or Mercantile Establishment”…etc.</p>
<p>The important language therein is “…without the consent of the owner”…and “without having paid the purchase price.” I would agree with regard to munching prior to check out, the situation could be a gray area concerning “intent.” But as another poster said, store employees have no idea of your intent. They can only make a decision on what they observe. If employees or managers see a customer grazing through the aisle and not promptly heading to the check out line, who can fault them for supposing that you might not be intending to pay?</p>
<p>One grape…Two only if the first was really sour. But I guess grapes are a problem, at least according to my Kroger store manager. I asked her about this issue today. She said they prefer people not do it. She brought up the grapes, as I only asked about opening a package and eating it in the store and then paying at check-out. Apparently grabbing a “handful” of grapes is a common problem, more so than people who eat packaged foods and leave the package behind.</p>