$5.2 million in losses daily? No . . . the worst state for shoplifting isn’t California or New York, it’s . .

Photo above - no junior, you CANNOT move back home and live in the basement. That's where I store my shoplifted stuff for resale on eBay . . .

Before I read the link below, I was convinced I knew the identify of America's shoplifting capitol Both Los Angeles and San Francisco have epic levels of shoplifting. So bad that the police take hours to respond, if at all. Perps are released the same day with a summons to appear in court months later. On the 5 o'clock news community activists blame evil corporations for closing shop and abandoning their communities. ("We're becoming a food desert!!")

Turns out I was mistaken. The new shoplifting champion – at least for today – is the state of Washington. Yeah, I was gob smacked too.

If it was just one link, I’d have blown it off and returned to my smug “LA sucks” mantra. But there are multiple photos and stories. One trio made $143,000 in a few weeks. To quote the TV series Deadwood, this is validation of the strategy of “efficiency and consolidation”. Don’t steal stuff just for your home or family. Work for an organized crime ring, and mass shoplift on an industrial scale for resale. Better yet if the organized crime ring employs minors, the homeless, or migrants with no ID. No judge wants to clog the system with those ladies and gentlemen. And If you’re only getting pennies on the dollar, you almost HAVE to steal hundreds of thousands of bucks worth every few days to feed your vices, no?

I used to be concerned that Amazon was making the malls and stores nearby dystopian. Or to close up completely. I went holiday shopping yesterday, and there were few cars in the lot, almost no shopping carts, and just a couple of cashiers. I was going to give[ithem a one star Yelp review, then I realized this would be like downvoting a hospital patient on life support. (“Appears lifeless and unenthusiastic. Does not make eye contact. Do not visit.”) This store is probably gonna die right after the holiday shopping season is over.

Amazon has it’s own prime version of the shoplifting crisis. Almost 100,000 packages are stolen each day - in NYC ALONE! Amazon is trying to persuade me to get in my car (or take the bus) and come to an official pickup location (google maps says the nearest one is only 5.2 miles away, and will take 17 minutes to reach). Secure pickup locations like Amazon Locker, or Amazon Counter, or UPS. I will need to show picture ID. It’s harder to pick up my delivery than vote. This is one problem which robot/drone deliveries isn’t going to solve. People will steal the entire drone, the same way they yank ATMs right out of the walls.

Where does the $5.2 million number in the headline come from? The average Amazon package is $52, and 100,000 go missing in NYC daily. That’s just Amazon. It doesn’t include on-site shoplifting at Target, Walmart, JCPenney, ULTA, Best Buy, Costco, and Home Depot . . .

Don’t laugh when you read “Home Depot”. Have you priced one of those compact, battery powered chainsaws? Or if you have a universal key, you can have a lawn tractor in the back of your pickup truck before the front door is even unlocked at opening.

I’m just sayin’ . . . and Happy Holidays !!!



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