A Supermarket Accidentally Opened When No Employees Were Working

[The Straight Story]

A Supermarket Accidentally Opened When No Employees Were Working

Casey Chan — What would you do if you walked into a supermarket with no employees inside? Dump everything into 5 carts and run? Steal all the alcohol you can? Grab store displays? Get a lifetime supply of cereal? Fruit? Or would you pay?

Well, Pak 'n Save, a supermarket in New Zealand, opened when no employees were working, and surprisingly, the store wasn't ransacked or stripped or even burned down because few shoppers even noticed the employees were missing. It happened on 8AM last Friday (Good Friday), when a computer glitch accidentally triggered the doors open with no workers inside.

Seriously! Around two dozen customers trickled in, cruised the aisles, shopped and when they were done, used the self-checkout machines to pay for their goods. Business as usual! Of course, some of them skirted past everything and walked straight out but when the owner of the supermarket reviewed the videotape, he said:

http://gizmodo.com/#!5795538/a-supermarket-accidentally-opened-when-no-employees-were-working

[ZombieHorde]

1. A friend and I once walked out of a grocery store without paying when we couldn't find any

employees. It was funny.

[GKirk]

3. Funny and theft all at the same time...

...unless you meant you left with out the groceries too. :(

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[ZombieHorde]

12. Funny. nt

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. I view both, equally, as unfunny theft. I work for a mom and pop store.

It is hard enough to keep their store running, without the "funniness" of thieves who will walk out with whatever they can get their mitts on. :(

[cherokeeprogressive]

57. I rank thieves with the worst of people...

Murderers
Molesters
Rapists
Thieves

Pretty much in that order...

[napi21]

2. Bet that wouldn't have happened HERE! nt

[Odin2005]

4. It would if it were in Fargo.

Because us folks up here are like that. People from elsewhere in the country are shocked that all the gas stations here let you fill up before you pay, for example.

[Tesha]

10. You might be surprised.

Here in New Hampshire, the tradition of the "honor box"
is still alive and well. You know, where a small roadside
vegetable/egg/jam/jelly stand has their product set out
for all to see and any to take, and just a small cash box
(the "honor box") sitting there for you to pay.

Not only isn't the cash box stolen, people pay for the
products they take.

I once bought some surveyor's stakes to hold up signs
for a political campaign. I never met the person running
the lumber operation from which I bought them; we simply
agreed on the phone regarding the price per bundle, I
went over there, found no one around, loaded up my
bundles, and left my check with my phone number and
instructions to call if there was any problem. There
apparently wasn't: I got my stakes, the check got
cashed, and I never got a phone call.

Tesha

[madmom]

11. We have "honor box" fruit and veggie stands all around here, works well.

[TheOther95Percent]

18. A fond memory of a NH vacation

My family had visited NH every summer when I was a child so I knew about the honor boxes. My dear spousal equivalent and I vacationed in NH in 2008. He is Brooklyn born, bred and buttered. He was AMAZED at the honor boxes. He kept saying, "I guess honest people still exist. Can you imagine if we did this back home?" I had to take a picture of him putting money in one for the friends and family back home. Thanks for stirring up a very fond memory.

[GKirk]

25. That gives me a warm feeling inside...

...thanks for sharing the story.

[Le Taz Hot]

46. OK, that is just TOO weird!

I've never heard of an "honor box" but I was thinking about doing the exact same thing in my driveway. I always have extra stuff, whether it be too many yellow squash or tomato plants, ferns -- whatever. I was JUST thinking about putting out a table with a brightly-colored umbrella, laying out my extras with a coffee can asking for donations. Sorry, totally off topic, but it's just interesting timing. You may now go back to your regularly-scheduled topic. :hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

68. Honor boxes are still pretty common in rural parts of the Northeast.

Try it! I've considered doing same in my NorCal area.

[spinbaby]

58. When people get desperate, honor disappears

In the "poor" section of my hometown, anything that can be converted into money is stolen instantly. When people have nothing, they get desperate.

[Odin2005]

5. Stories like this help restore my faith in humanity.

[CoffeeCat]

7. A friend of mine walked out of a grocery store...

...accidentally, without paying. Seriously.

She was at the courtesy counter with her full cart of groceries, picking up her dry cleaning. A friend called
her in crisis and she spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to calm her down. It was a legitimate crisis with
her child who had seizures the night before. The friend continued the call, collected the dry cleaning and
spaced off and walked out of the store.

As she went through the front doors, two men approached her. She was still talking on the phone and had no idea
why they were stopping her. She was shocked when they told her she was stealing and the police were called. They
arrived charged her with theft and she is awaiting trial.

She was bawling and crying. She's a regular customer and has been shopping there for years. She offered to return
and pay...she had money/credit cards with her.

They wouldn't even speak to her. Just told her to wait for the police.

Moral of this story--cell phones are the devil! ;)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

28. Normally, if you offer to pay, most of the time, they're going to let you...

It is much more trouble to go to trial. It happens accidentally. Some people are just that ditzy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. Guilty.

It pisses me off when I go to the hardware store and when I get home I realize that I didn't obtain the thing I went to get. It pisses me off worse when I get home with the thing I needed and realize I hadn't paid.

Either one requires a trip all the way back to town. It really is annoying to drive an extra 20 miles to pay for a $0.99 bolt.

I'd rather confess to being stupid than dishonest.

I think to a large extent people behave as we expect them to behave. If you live in such a way that it's apparent you expect others are honest... karma I guess.

[Lucian]

8. I did that once.

I walked out with a few things without paying. I figured that it was the store's fault that no one was around. Not mine.

[Doremus]

19. You need other people to tell you what's right and wrong?

Or you knew it was wrong but did it anyway because you weren't going to get caught?

[Lucian]

22. I didn't consider it stealing.

Especially since I was broke and hungry.

Don't judge me.

[BoWanZi]

48. WTF? You don't consider it stealing, what is it then? Theft? Larceny? Robbery? Thievery?

In the eyes of the law, you are guilty, plain and simple. You can say "don't judge me" but no matter what, you admitted that you are a criminal. If you said something to the effect of "yes, what I did was ethically morally wrong and against the law, but I was hungry so I needed to steal", I would have more respect but since you flat out said "I don't consider it stealing", you lose any iota of respect.

[lumberjack_jeff]

52. Your moral compass needs adjusting.

It's stealing. Whether it was out of necessity is a different question.

[uppityperson]

60. Even being broke and hungry, it was stealing. First you say no one was around so you walked out.

Now you say because you were broke and hungry. You stole.

[Codeine]

21. What the hell?

Can you just drive off with a Ferrari if a salesman isn't visible?

I work grocery retail. Thieves suck, and make running a difficult business even harder.

[Lucian]

23. I work at Walmart and I see people stealing shit all the time.

Do I care? Hell no.

Why do you?

Edit: See my post above.

[Codeine]

26. Because I work at a small retail business

and I really hate thieves, regardless of how they justify their theft.

[Lucian]

30. I don't see it that way.

But I won't change your mind and you won't change mine.

It bothers me you use the word "hate" when you talk about thieves. I can think of a million other things worse than theft.

But I'm glad you're perfect. :eyes:

[Renew Deal]

38. Is "immoral" a better word choice?

:shrug:

[Lucian]

64. How is it "immoral" to steal to eat when one cannot afford to eat?

Either all of you in this thread are Jesus or you all need to get off your high horse.

[DeschutesRiver]

66. You said you didn't consider it stealing because of your motives. Now it is stealing? nt

[Ghost in the Machine]

76. "It bothers me you use the word "hate" when you talk about thieves"

Why is that? I hate a piece of shit who feels like he is entitled to the things that I worked for to pay for. I've been robbed at gunpoint, I've had my home broken into and I've been stolen from by someone I was helping out, giving them a place to stay when they had nowhere else to go. Yeah, I HATE a fucking piece of shit theif...

[GKirk]

32. He justified it

because he doesn't like Walmart. Someone else might justify stealing from your business because the owners are republicans or democrats or jewish or black or what ever excuse works for them... they are all wrong.

[Lucian]

55. I see theft from large corporations more of a gray area.

They steal from us all the time, so why the fuck should I care someone steals from them?

Look, if I stop a theft from happening, what do I get out of it? My pay doesn't go up, nor does it go down. The only thing that happens when I stop a theft is Walmart gets to pocket a little more money. There's nothing in it for me. So, I don't care.

Likewise, if I was hungry and had no money, you bet your ass I'm going to take something from a store, even though you see it as "wrong."

You need to move out of your binary way of thinking (good vs evil) and see the world in the shade of gray that it is.

But I'm glad the rest of you here are perfect. :eyes:

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

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[Lucian]

62. ...says the person with 42 posts.

I've been here since 2005 (under a different username). How long have you been here?

Learn to think critically and then respond to me.

[progressiveinaction]

65. Well, let me use my critical thinking skills then...

How much shit have you stolen since 2005? I won't judge you this time.

[Lucian]

69. I don't have to answer to you and it's none of your business.

Problem solved.

[progressiveinaction]

70. Well then

I'll be sure to steal shit the next time I visit the Walmart Supercenter on 12th street in Sauk Centre, MN. I won't have to worry about you giving a shit.

[uppityperson]

61. People steal from Walmart so it's ok for you to steal from another store? wow

[Lucian]

63. Wow.

Way to not read what I've said.

[uppityperson]

67. Then please clarify. Thank you.

[MineralMan]

27. There you go. Now we know who you are, it seems.

Too bad.

[Lucian]

31. So sayeth someone like you.

[ontime1969]

56. free stuff from your house?

So if your not at your home, can I go in and take what I want? Can you post your address please? }(

[WatsonT]

72. A lot of times people leave their homes unattended

you could totally snag everything they own without paying.

It's their fault for not guarding their stuff more carefully.

[Skidmore]

13. Our store in our village here is like that. Sometimes the owner leaves

to run an errand and if the spouse isn't around and you come into pick up an item, you leave a note telling him what you purchased and then you can drop the money off later. Actually, we have more than one shop which operate on the honor system. And they turn a profit too.

I love our little village.

[niyad]

14. don't know about NZ--but several of the supermarket chains here have been busy cutting staff to the

point that one cannot find an employee if one is needed. so, perhaps it didn't strike anyone as strange.

[gratuitous]

16. Walked out of Costco once

We had stacked our purchases, and put a sleeve of 9-volt batteries between an egg carton and a box of yogurts. We didn't disassemble the stack when we put it on the belt, the checker didn't pull it apart when she rang it up, and when we got home we found the batteries had been overlooked and we hadn't been charged for them. We drove back to Costco and had them scan the batteries and paid for them. One of the folks gave us a look like we had rocks in our head, but we figured we wouldn't want to be cheated out of fifteen bucks and we didn't think cheating Costco out of fifteen bucks was a nice thing to do. That whole golden rule thingy.

[IrishEyes]

17. I left without paying once

I had stopped off in another town to make some copies at Kinkos and I totally forgot to pay. I had a lot on my mind at the time. I didn't realize until I was home that I did it. It was to far to go back and pay the dollar. I felt guilty so I gave a dollar to a homeless person.

[jakeXT]

20. Pak 'n Save they did nt

[WinkyDink]

24. I'd be scared they were all dead in the back.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

29. I know this is evil, but...

:rofl:

[gkhouston]

33. Okay, at least *one* of you has watched too many Coen brothers movies.

:rofl:

[Admiral Loinpresser]

34. The scarier question.

Given Obama's non-policy on international climate change, what will you do when the stores don't have any food?

[Renew Deal]

40. OMG you're so right

There are people that find any opportunity to bash Obama.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

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[Renew Deal]

44. The apocalypse?

When will this happen? May 21 or 12/21/12?

[Admiral Loinpresser]

45. I don't know when.

Do you think we are not headed for that truly?

Of course I am referring to the rapidly accelerating climate change. Do you believe the Arctic polar icecap is melting? Any idea what that will do to global weather patterns?

[Renew Deal]

47. No, we are not headed towards the end of the world.

I think we are headed for trouble, but not the end of humanity.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

49. I agree.

We are a very adaptable species. But I find it hard to believe that civilization will survive. Do you agree that we're headed for an ecological tipping point? I think An Inconvenient Truth made the case pretty well. And Gore didn't really get into agricultural failure or the potential for tropical disease outbreak in now-temperate zones.

We don't know what will happen, but we'll be damned lucky to keep nation-states functioning. We do know two things: 1) even while we remain on the happy side of a tipping point, things are getting worse in an accelerating fashion (climate change models over the last 20 years have been consistently revised due to events outstripping their predictions); and 2)the arctic icecap is melting (as is the Greenland shelf, as is Antarctica).

If you haven't seen An Inconvenient Truth, I heartily recommend it. It isn't pleasant but the science is real.

[Renew Deal]

50. It's hard to say.

One of the theories is that global warming will bring on global cooling. Didn't humanity survive a previous ice age? We are better equipped for that now. But the environment is complex and there are other factors. If a super-volcano blows, we'll have little to worry about.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

54. Yeah, we have adapted at least a couple of times, I think

to ice ages, as homo sapiens. But I think lots of small social groups migrating around the globe are probably less vulnerable to that kind of massive change than a post-industrial society with 300 million people. If the worst that happened was a political revolution, that would be getting off easy.

If you can't produce enough food, then I think anarchy is much more likely. I truly hope I am wrong, for the sake of those who are still young.

But the older I get, the more I observe that the fate of humanity is driven by unintended consequences.

A century ago, when electric American cars were abandoned in favor of internal combustion engines, it would result in Pacific Islanders having to abandon their homeland or Alaska natives becoming refugees? But it happened. Or how about the fact that it would result in the drying up of Africa's major lakes, thereby causing civil wars, famines and millions of refugees? But it all happened.

The current international plan is to keep punting until the outcry is to great to ignore. Some problems can be dealt with that way. I seriously doubt this is that kind of problem.

As to the cooling theory, at least the one I've heard, the Atlantic water cycle (that warms the UK and northern Europe) stops and theoretically begins a new Ice Age. That doesn't sound too good for agriculture or a world economy either.

I know these aren't reptile brain issues. It's more abstract than fearing eviction if you don't pay the rent. But science is telling us the risk is very real and accelerating.

Spring comes earlier in my hometown than it did 30 years ago. The summers are hotter, the winters are colder and the weather is more extreme generally. We've had lyme disease here now for about 15 years or so.

I'm reading that more tropical parasites and bugs are migrating this way. Don't you see a trend here? Remember, the change is accelerating, i.e. each year the *rate* of change is faster than the year before. In other words,we are racing faster and faster toward an ecological cliff.

[WatsonT]

73. Eat the employees!

Oh right, they aren't around.

I guess eat the other customers then.

Damn you Obama for forcing me to eat my neighbors!

/better stock up on A-1 sauce.

[ReggieVeggie]

35. watch out! it'll give them ideas!

Nobody working and customers coming and going using the self-checkout? Great! Just hire a security guard to make sure no one steals anything and they save on labor costs! Hell, they'll hire out a security firm and just install more cameras, for that matter.

[kentauros]

36. Then who restocks the shelves?

For that matter, who will replace those items that customers can't be bothered to return to their proper location? In other words, who throws out the package of meat left in the plastic bag aisle?

I would be curious to know if anyone has done a cost comparison on losses between shoplifting and of perishables left in the wrong place. I find those customers that are 100% inconsiderate to be almost like thieves. They are certainly causing undue loss to the store...

[Renew Deal]

39. The machines

[kentauros]

41. How about Lego People instead?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuM2H6uFG2M

:P

[Renew Deal]

43. That's probably a better idea.

:D

[WatsonT]

75. Aren't they a little well armed for this line of work?

They will need a 9mm at most.

[Renew Deal]

37. BURN IT DOWN!

:wtf: Who wakes up in the morning and decides to torch a supermarket if nobody is around? :rofl:

[lumberjack_jeff]

51. Everyone believes that everyone else is less honest than themselves.

That's because everyone (in aggregate) are more honest than we give them credit for.

In fact, after reviewing the tape, a religious studies professor said it seemed like everyone was going to pay until they got stuck at the self checkout machine waiting for an employee to approve an alcohol purchase. Once they couldn't find an employee, they left with their groceries in tow.

The police eventually showed up an hour later and the owner is asking those who pranced off with free groceries to come back and pay. Good luck! Watch the news report here. Ah-mazing.

My personal theory is that theft is the urban expression of a hunting instinct. It's demeaning if the highest and best use of your hunting prowess is stealing the Jerry's kids change box off the counter.

The only exception is fundie rightwingers. If you work with one, don't keep your lunch in the lunchroom fridge. Stealing your cookies really is the highest and best use of their intellectual prowess.

[WatsonT]

71. I think you can get away with that once because most will assume they are being watched

make a habit of it and things won't go as smoothly.

Also depends heavily on the neighborhood.

[Aerows]

74. New Zealand is a very friendly country, I'm told

Their quality of life is pretty high, and when the quality of life is high, people tend to be a lot more honest. When there is corruption everywhere you look, and quality of life is poor, you tend to think "Oh, well, everyone else does it."