so should we coin a new term for this? Maybe snitchnomics?
rurban · 17m ago
We used to call them Blockwart (block warden), and then the GDR took em over, just renamed them to Abschnittsbevollmächtigter, but also Hausbuchführer or just AKP (Auskunftsperson).
pavel_lishin · 1h ago
Everything else aside, it just does not seem like an economic use of my time to find an employee, alert them to shoplifting, and stick around long enough to get the measly £1 credit on a loyalty card.
zahlman · 43m ago
Do you also not find it an economic use of your time to, say, comparison shop for groceries?
pavel_lishin · 6m ago
If it doesn't net me more than a dollar savings, no.
Much like I don't drive an extra 10 minutes to a gas station that costs two cents less per gallon.
tomjakubowski · 24m ago
I'm not sure I understand your point. The savings from comparison shopping will surely be greater than 1 GBP per shopping trip. And practicing that is a skill which you get better at and expend less effort doing over time -- reporting a shoplifter, not so much.
zahlman · 6m ago
Reporting a shoplifter is something you can do opportunistically, and which will likely take quite little time if you happen to notice one.
pavel_lishin · 5m ago
Sure, but - again, ignoring all other ethical considerations - I have to stick around long enough to get that pound credit, too.
Reporting a crime out of a sense of civic duty is a wholly different proposition to doing it for a buck.
dkiebd · 1h ago
And here I was thinking this was about a supermarket in Iceland.
pavel_lishin · 58m ago
Yeah, I thought this was going to be the delightful Bonus chain, which has the absolute best mascot I've ever seen: https://bonus.is/english/
drcongo · 26m ago
Iceland is already one of the cheapest supermarkets in the UK, if someone is shoplifting food from Iceland they're probably both hungry and trapped in poverty. Anyone reporting them for £1 is a piece of shit.
pavel_lishin · 6m ago
Remember: if you saw someone shoplifting food, no, you didn't.
so should we coin a new term for this? Maybe snitchnomics?
Much like I don't drive an extra 10 minutes to a gas station that costs two cents less per gallon.
Reporting a crime out of a sense of civic duty is a wholly different proposition to doing it for a buck.