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by pbhjpbhj 3897 days ago
So you consider the behaviour to be normal? It's very difficult to behave normally when focussing on a particular behaviour, most people are not very good actors IME.

Would be interested if you can recreate this as a demonstration; also a video showing the behaviour would be great, I'd certainly attempt a duplicate.

>What would be perceived as customer interest as a non-minority customer is perceived as suspicious as a minority customer. //

I perceive problems with this line of thinking - for example any young solo male at the store I work at is suspicious. Does that mean I'm ageist and sexist? No, just that this demographic is contrary to the normal use of our services; moreover the only major theft we've had was by someone in this demographic.

We might fail to notice someone else stealing because our attention is elsewhere whilst with people in that demographic our attention will be much more tightly focussed; according to our records this has never happened however.

In your opinion is it wrong for us to behave in this way?

1 comments

So you consider the behaviour to be normal?

Depending on how you define "normal". If you mean acting like everyone else, then absolutely not. My goal was to be incongruous.

If you mean acting calmly and naturally, then yes. I wasn't nervous because I knew that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I wasn't doing anything that would get me in trouble.

We might fail to notice someone else stealing because our attention is elsewhere whilst with people in that demographic our attention will be much more tightly focussed; according to our records this has never happened however.

If you are watching the young males, how can you be sure? What kind of inventory shrinkage do you have?

In your opinion is it wrong for us to behave in this way?

We all have our biases. Whether or not it's wrong is debatable but if you miss a shoplifter because you were focusing your attention on the wrong person, that is your fault.