I've been really upset about this for the past couple of days and now I'm thinking maybe if I write about it it will help!
On Friday Dan got home early and watched the kids so I could go shopping for a care package for a friend. I went to the NEX of course (I shop there like 3 times a week) and took my time looking around at everything and picking out things for the package. I only had Gideon so I put him in the stroller and shopped that way. When I picked out something I would put it in the shade of the stroller so it wouldn't fall out and I didn't have to hold it since I need both hands to push the stroller. When I was finished shopping I went up to the register and bought all my stuff and headed out. After I got outside I stopped and looked at the Redbox to see if Kung Fu Panda was out yet and started to walk away. I heard someone from behind me say, "excuse me, ma'am" and I turned around and this guy told me he was from loss management and that he needed me to come with him. I was so confused and was trying to figure out what "loss management" was and turned around to grab my stroller and saw that I had forgotten about a $2.59 bottle of bleach I had put in the bottom of the stroller. I said, "oh! The bleach! I totally forgot about that!" I expected him to just ask me to take it back in and pay for it, but he instead told me that "we'll talk about that in the back". He proceed to take me to a back room where another woman was. I tried to explain to her that I had totally forgotten I had put it there, but she said that it was "obvious that I saw the bleach when I bent down to get my wallet out of my purse". I was stunned. I realized then that they actually thought I was trying to steal it. I told her that my purse is big and asked if she would please come and look from behind the stroller and see that I cannot see the bottom of the stroller when getting my wallet out of my bag. She wouldn't look and didn't even make eye contact with me! I also told her that i had bought more expensive things and why would I try and take something that cost way less? I could have taken a tiny Burt's Bees $12 gift set, but obviously I was not trying to take anything! She would not listen. She then told me she needed to look through my bag and stroller and I told her to look all she wanted there was nothing there. She went through my purse, pulled out some note cards and asked if they were mine...I told her yes and that I had bought them at the dollar store. She then asked if I had put back the other Burt's Bees package I had been carrying. I got angry then and told her "Yes! I did!" That really freaked me out since I had put that back a few minutes before I even got to the register. That meant they had been watching me through the store as I shopped!! They took my social security number, my driver's licence, my military ID and got my husband's rank and command info. Then she left and went to another room while the guy sat with me.
I asked the guy sitting with me how they could think I was trying to steal that when I had bought all of the other stuff and was standing outside at the redbox. His response? "The tapes say you did". I was so scared and just sat there and cried.
So I sat in the room with the guy and saw the police come. Two police officers!! They were gone for a long time and I just sat there in the room crying. I had forgotten my cell phone and couldn't call Dan to tell him what was going on. I asked the guy if they were running a background check (I was hoping they would since I don't even have a speeding ticket!), but he said they were probably reviewing the tapes.
Finally a police officer came in and told me he had to ask me some questions and I needed to answer yes or no to them if I understood. He then proceeded to read me my rights just like they do on TV. I totally lost it and started sobbing and asked if he was arresting me. He told me he had to ask the questions before he could question me. When he was done he asked if I wanted a lawyer and I of course told him I did not.
He asked me what happened and actually listened to me explain everything. He told me he could see how it would have been hard to see the bleach under the stroller. He went back and talked with the loss management people and the other cop and I guess they decided not to press charges. The other cop came in and told me that if I came back to the store they would be watching me because of this incident. Then I was finally able to leave that awful place.
Well, no one needs to worry about me coming back because I will NEVER shop there again!! EVER!!
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