At one time large department stores employed security personnel who became known as store detectives or floorwalkers...The concept spread to other businesses in an effort to cut back on "crimes of opportunity," and these employees began to be known as "loss prevention specialists," more ear pleasing titles possibly given in lieu of a raise in salary...
All this is good as it gives less socially-inclined, but still employable personnel a position they are able to describe as "work" and thus avoid the lines at the unemployment office...Most take their jobs as what they really are, which is just placeholders in their résumés; others assign more importance to their rungs on the corporate ladder, and think they must justify their worth to their superiors...
This second group was brought to the attention of Truckman as he did his shopping in the same Sam's Warehouse Club as in the last 18 years...Other Walton family retail outlets, such as WalMart, use otherwise unemployable, yet friendly personnel as "greeters" while Sam's has two similar positions, one at the entrance and another stationed at the exit...
This commendable use of the lower levels of the labor force by the Walton chains is justified to the employees by assigning them to check membership cards on the way in, and cash register receipts on the way out...This is mostly "make work" as patrons may only make purchases by swiping their membership cards at checkout, and showing the receipt at exit is useless as none of the "checkers" ever compares items in the cart to what is listed on the receipt...
A perfunctory check of the Sam's Club Membership Terms and Conditions shows no mention of a requirement to show either card or receipt to anyone...However since I always retrieve my member card and credit card from my billfold when I walk in knowing I will need them anyway, I show the card to the greeter even though none of them have ever verified that it's my card...
I know most of them now after years of patronage, and sometimes make a joke of telling the greeter I found the card in the parking lot and will turn it in after doing my shopping, or I may suggest to the exit checker that it might be more efficient to weigh me in and then weigh me out to make sure I didn't shoplift anything...It always gets a good laugh, and I usually just give the receipt to the exit checker to discard for me allowing them to be seen by the boss doing something...
Sometimes when I'm pressed for time, and find a long line waiting to have their receipts checked for possible shoplifting activity, I'll just walk by them on my way out without being challenged by the familiar employees...Occasionally a newer employee will tell me they have to check my receipt, to which I say, "It's OK, I trust you" and keep walking...
Such was the case yesterday as I made my exit and strolled past the exit checker whom I had not seen previously...Obviously trying to justify her existence on the payroll, she caught up with me (leaving the other shoppers waiting) and said, "Sir, I have to check your receipt," to which I replied without stopping, "It's OK, I already checked it"...
She didn't follow me, but kept yelling at me to let her check it...I didn't turn around but a male voice joined her hollering, "Sir!...Sir!...Sir!"...As much as I appreciated being addressed as sir by such polite people, I just didn't have the time to chat, and kept walking...
Next time I visit Sam's, I may take the time to thank them for their courtesy...I may even wear my body camera to record the event...And if Sam's management would like to carry it further, and somehow make the error of accusing me of shoplifting, I would welcome the opportunity for the lawsuit...
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