Ask Amy: My closest cousin and her husband are habitual shoplifters
Posted May 15, 2021
By Amy Dickinson | Tribune Content Agency
Dear Amy: In a recent question from “Upset and Embarrassed,” the writer noted that fellow nurses bullied her, calling her a “lunch lady.”
I wanted to share a story about lunch ladies, who should be respected and lifted up for feeding our children with a smile.
I’m not sure how universal my experience is, but I like to believe that there are more stories like mine.
When I was in school, I was shunned for a variety of reasons, by students and teachers alike. I often sat completely alone in a corner during breakfast and lunch.
(4/14/2021)
A common denominator in recent, and not so recent, incidents of civilians being shot by police is the usually low level of the crime that prompted the police to attempt apprehension in the first place.
The Star Tribune noted that fact in its coverage of the most recent tragedy, that in Brooklyn Center, with a link to the story: “Retailers urged to re-think police calls for low-level crimes after George Floyd’s death.” Why, though, is the retailer being assigned responsibility for even one of these deaths?
The article claimed that “… shoplifting is a common crime in the general population … Approximately 1 in 11 Americans have shoplifted, according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention.”
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In honor of the memory of George Floyd, those peddling social justice reform are advocating nonviolent criminal acts such as shoplifting from big box stores should no longer be a criminal offense.
George Floyd died in police custody after a corner store clerk reported he had used a fake $20 bill, a nonviolent offense so low-level that police don’t usually take people to jail for it. [A Federal crime carrying a potential 20-year sentence, according to the US Code.]
Now, as the trial over his death continues to unfold, criminal justice reform experts and diversity specialists are hoping the case will prompt retailers from small businesses to major chains to reassess how they treat Black and other minority customers and how they can handle loss prevention cases more equitably.