One of the constant themes I keep discussing in this blog is the illusion from many of those who work in the retail industry, but reject it as their chosen career. To double down on that thinking, they don’t view it as a serious job at all.
When you combine this type of mindset with people who aren’t the most ethical in the bunch, the result can be unsettling to say the very least. This is what leads to crime in retail stores.
It can be a register shortage, missing merchandise or even more than that, but the mentality that prevents those from viewing stores as a legitimate business.
This derives from a few places of thought. One of which is the minimum age for working in stores. Many allow you to work as a teenager, and if you weren’t raised with morals, or have friends who don’t think about the effects of illicit activities, you can wind up in very real trouble.
Not only can employees try and sneak out with merchandise, but they can also try and outsmart the management team and short registers for some extra cash on the side.
No matter what they scheme is, there are those who try to work within the system in order to get what they want, either because they hate their job that much, or they’re just bad people.
Regardless of the reason, their actions effect many people (“The Consequence”, “The Confrontation,” “The Garbage Thief”) and jeopardizes the livelihoods of those who have absolutely no connection or involvement with what they were doing.
Perhaps it’s the perception that too many feel retail is a joke, so they conspire to make it an even larger one. Little do those people know that retail is a real job just like all of the other ones out there. Unfortunately, I have believed that most people are ultimately good and will do the right thing. From working in retail, I have experienced that they do not. And my experiences have taught me never to really trust anyone ever again.
quarterlifeinretail 