Grand Theft Ham at Price Chopper

I was robbed. earlier today.

The Price Chopper in Latham has a little deli touch pad where you can place your deli order, go shopping and then come pack in 15-20 minutes and pick the order up. Usually, the system works great. Huge time saver. But twice, I have fallen victim the theft. A few months ago, someone walked off with my whole order. Just gone. Poof. I had to stand there another 20 minutes to get the order.

Earlier today, I was in the store, placed my deli order (quarter pound of hard salami, quarter pound of ham) and went shopping for the week. I was number 77. About 20 minutes after I placed the order, I heard "Deli order 77 is ready for pickup" over the PA and started walking my cart back to the deli. When I got there, easily within 5 minutes of the announcement, the salami was there but the ham was gone. Both the ham and salami were checked off with a Sharpie by the deli staffer that prepped the order. The two bags of cold cuts would have been loosely taped together. Someone freakin' stole it. When I brought it to a staffer's attention, their face had a "not again" apologetic look so it must happen pretty regularly.

Now, I will be able to work through this supermarket violation. Sure it will probably take a few therapist visits, but I'll get over it and feel safe in the supermarket once again. What I really want to know is where the line is for this kind supermarket thief. This is not your typical shoplifting. This particular thief knowingly stole something that someone else had ordered. So my questions for you Mr. or Mrs. Schmuck: I know you are guilty of deli theft, probably also guilty of bringing 30 things into the 15 items or less line before slowly writing a check and you probably live somewhere filled with office supplies that mysteriously vanished from your workplace. And my guess is that you rationalize this deli theft by telling yourself that you are paying the store for the cold cuts so you really aren't stealing. But you selfishly stole 10 minutes from me today. They must be valuable because you couldn't be bothered to waste them waiting for your own order. Not sure how many other people you delayed or stole time from at the counter. Where do you draw the line? Would you pick something out of another shopper's cart because you can't be bothered to find it yourself in the store? Would you lie about pre-ordering a turkey at Thanksgiving? What about a cake? Would you take an ordered cake? Are you doing this in front of your kids? What about at work - are you stealing lunch meat out of that fridge too?

Quit taking stuff that isn't yours.