What Groceries Tell Us About Society
- Michael B. Benedict
- Sep 14, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: May 31, 2024
Buying “Used” Food from Groceries
Over the last several months, I have noticed a peculiar phenomenon with my groceries. Food shopping should be relatively straightforward, i.e., you have a list of items needed, go to the relevant aisle to see if the item’s in stock, check the price and expiration date, put the item in a cart, and checkout. If all goes well, you will consume the item when ready with minimal fuss.
“If” all goes well...
I first noticed something was awry when opening a container of whitefish. For those who don't usually purchase whitefish, if at all, it's a bit more expensive than tuna fish, costing around $12 for a 16-ounce container. I removed the lid and saw someone had dipped their finger into the salad, perhaps wanting to test it before purchasing it. Upon seeing this, I immediately returned the item, and the store amicably replaced it. Seeing someone eating your food before you taste it is unsettling and unseemly. And what about the cleanliness of that finger? I assumed it was a one-off situation and didn't think much about it.
About two months later, I bought a 30-ounce container of Hellmann's Mayonnaise. Having purchased a fair amount of Hellman's products in my life, I'm familiar with how the product gets topped off before being sealed with the blue lid. The second I put my hand on the lid to open the jar, I knew something was wrong. The lid was loose, and when I unscrewed it, I saw a fair amount of mayonnaise already consumed. I took it back to the store (a different one from the whitefish example above), and this store, too, replaced the product.
There have been other situations similar to those with different food products. Hint - Be sure to check any cans of nuts to see if the aluminum seal has been pulled back.
Having purchased groceries for decades, I don't recall having ongoing issues with food being opened before purchase. The frequency of these events raises the question of why this is happening. It is stealing and costs the food stores money, through no fault of their own, and can also impact both the store's and product's brand trustworthiness.
Five Reasons Why People Shoplift
According to an informative article by Shopify, there are five main reasons why people shoplift. Note — In the above examples, I assume there was no food tampering — just stealing. The difference is that food tampering assumes an intent to harm an individual or group.
01. Psychological Factors: Includes depression, obsessive compulsion, and kleptomania (uncontrollable urge to steal).
02. Financial Difficulty: When there is no money and children need to be fed, theft will happen.
03. Low Risk: Only 1 in 48 shoplifters are caught, so minimal risk exists. I will add that recent “Bail Reform” laws passed in CA, IL, NY, and elsewhere, that make thefts valued at <$950 almost non-punishable, haven’t helped.
04. Peer Pressure: Younger cohorts who want to “fit in” can be easily encouraged to steal.
05. Emotional Problems: Shoplifting creates dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that makes people feel pleasure.
In addition to the above, I will add that there is a desire for attention on social media and for likes, comments, and subscribers that deliver an endorphin rush. This has led to some troubling posts on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms. The “social influencer” enters a grocery store and walks down aisles, randomly selecting products and opening them to eat, lick, or spit into them, then placing the item back onto the shelf.
Here are some examples of individuals using social media to promote their illicit behavior in grocery stores. TikTok influencer Noah Glenn Carter called out the bad behavior of a fellow influencer, showing her “engaging,” i.e., eating, spitting into, and licking various food products and then restocking them (note — this is not for the faint of heart).
Another TikTok influencer called out a group for eating (but not paying) for food at Walmart (warning: There is strong language in this video).
Reflections
These insidious actions demonstrate a blatant disregard for private property (the food items) and the health of the potential end-users. Dipping one's hand into a mayonnaise jar, spitting into a drink container, or licking food and putting it back might seem (relatively) harmless. Still, according to a HuffPost article, [these actions can result in] "salivary transfer of germs/viruses/etc. The most common are the ones you'd expect (and those your grandmother warned you about). We're talking strep throat, the common cold, and mumps being the big three. There's also the rarer (yet deadly) meningitis." If more TikTokers create videos in a similar vein, will grocery stores have to put food items behind a locked plexiglass door to protect honest consumers?
These behaviors result primarily from people not being taught that stealing (in all its forms) is wrong, regardless of the lack of consequences and disincentives, mental health issues, and prioritizing their need for attention on social media to the detriment of the greater good.
Society must have a sense of collective responsibility for each other if we are to maintain civility and want to continue to thrive. That includes respecting multi-billion dollar corporations and the local mom-and-pop store. These videos and images are not funny. They are depressing, showing a lack of remorse and no sense of obligation to the business and their clients.
We all pay a hefty price for this, from more stores closing (this is already happening in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City) to high-security stores where buying a jar of mayonnaise becomes a multistep, security-involved action. This does not have to be our inevitable future, but the government needs to provide sufficient disincentives to commit these crimes, and law enforcement must be willing to follow through and set an example to the broader community that there will be consequences. As for the “influencers” creating these videos, they should be required to make a public admission of guilt and repentance to their followers. If one is effective at messaging, one should use it for the greater good.
Michael Benedict published his first book, The Civil Society Playbook: A Commonsense Plan for a Return to Civility, in 2024. His career spans 25+ years in senior-level marketing positions at Fortune 1000 companies, tech startups, and marketing consultancies. His book covers areas of incivility that are not frequently discussed in the media. It offers solutions - actions - that anyone, regardless of age, can implement to improve civility in all aspects of society. He can be reached at michaelbbenedict@gmail.com. The book is available on Amazon, Apple Books, and Audible.
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