Subj : All across Canada, unprecedented rise in theft To : August Abolins From : George Pope Date : Wed Mar 01 2023 07:55:00 > "All across Canada, stores are dealing with an unprecedented > rise in theft affecting business and putting staff at risk. > https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/annual-shoplifting- > losses-top-250000-for-cambridge-grocer-6464406 > https://bbs.lc/kj5hY I was thrilled a couple Christmases ago when I was shaking bells for the Sallies outside my neighbourhood Fresho, & heard a commotion & saw what looked like some older youth wrestling their way out the door, & two chased two across the parking lot, one tackling another, causing the tacklee's glasses & phone togo flying as his face slammed into cold wet blacktop. I shrugged, as kids gotta be kids, but then a bit later a staff member explained that was a takedown of a shoplifter. Management always has security around the holidays, but this year they paid extra for take down service (mostly they're hands-off, if they can't simply get the thief to cooperate with words and a compelling grip alone) I cheered & praised the store's management all month! Simple nabbing of the too slow is no deterrent, as they think it;'s a fun adventure to be handcuffed, perp-walked, & fingerprinted, only to be released to be in another store doing same within the hour. . . Painful takedown sets a more memorable deterrent (oh, no, I might get hurt if I'm a jackass thief!) Back in the day, before our time, I'm sure, a shoplifter got caught by a proprietor, taken out back & had a careful(non-maiming) beating administered. Kid ran home crying; parents got the truth out of him & gave him another beating or two, one for the crime & another for embarrassing the family. Now, though, if the proprietor even squeezes a tiny bit too hard in grabbing the kid, he's liable to be arrested! I'd like to see more of the older way in play. . . but beatings within reason - - painful, but not maiming. . . Diotto for parenting. . . loving discipline is not the same as angry abuse! I'm thankful i was lovingly disciplined as a kid==yeah, it hurt, but not as much as prison beatings might have if I'd grown up into an unchecked criminal like so many are nowadays. . . I was a petty thief/shoplifter as a kid, but knew better & outgrew the nasty habit. Now, if I want something I can't afford I either choose to not want it that much, or to save up for it. . . I'm in a rich province in a rich country - - I have no cause to be actually hungry enough to try justifying shoplifting food. (As I once fooled myself into doing as a homeless(99% personal choice) teen.) I heard-tell of a story of the Toronto mayor physically attacking a hoarder/vendor of Covid shorted necessities & was quite pleased to hear it. Much better feeling than when the Alberta premier drunkenly harangued some homeless people at a soup kitchen. . . Some people are put into poverty/homelessness through society's lacks & deserve empathy & help -- others, however are clearly greedy or lazy, & deserve nothing but contempt. Sadly too many do-gooder organisations & lobbyists make it hard for the average person to know this difference. I'm thankful that the same farther who bruised by rear end with a leather belt as needed, also taught me to think for myself & to dig deeper for truth, as needed. Not all who claim to be an ally or friend are. . . I'd like to see more meatballs sentenced to public canings & the newsmedia stop giving them notoriety -- I'd like to see a headline like, "Some cowardly piece of human garbage attacked a senior in the park yesterday. Police are asking anyone who knows anything to contact them anonymously as a good citizen who cares about their community." Make it a feel good choice to cooperate with one's community's police instead of a "look at me" infamy as they currently report it. . . Or a headline like, "Some loser defaced the bridge with spray-paint in the night. City staff were out scrubbing it early, ensuring commuters wouldn't have to see the evidence of such a useless twat being in our community." Kind of takes the so-called glory out of it, eh? I'm working on getting myself deeper in with the local media to hopefully eventually broach this idea to the editors in control, as an editorial personality to take. . . --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757) .