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RE: Disturbing Incident: What Sort of World do we Live in?
I guess you have to really mean it when you say: "Put that back NOW...". Otherwise his next crime will be emboldened. It would have been better for her to say nothing than to not mean it.
Emboldened seems an appropriate term. Things have changed, in the retail business, over the past 30 years. I used to apprehend shoplifters last time I had a store (mid-80's, 90's) and a stern word was usually enough to send them running or the threat of police action would get them to give up their loot. Now they just stare you down and threaten back, or ignore you.
If course you have to mean it. That said, your typical 2019 petty thief/shoplifter is way more likely to be strung out on drugs than they were in 1985. Which makes a big difference to their mental state.