This Will Not Go The Way You Expect It To Go

I’m working away, stocking shelves. I’m part of the management team and am usually the one called to handle shoplifters. As I walk past an aisle, I notice a man stuffing cologne boxes into his backpack, about to zip it up. I immediately go into red alert.

Me: “Um, I really hope you plan on paying for those.”

Customer: “Oh, they’re empty.”

Me: “I apologize, but that seems very suspicious, so do you mind if I take a look to confirm?”

He opens the bag and hands it over. As I’m investigating the contents, he proceeds to explain.

Customer: “I just brought these in so I knew what brands to buy. I gifted these and needed to buy more.”

After I confirmed the packages were empty, I noticed his basket filled with matching cologne boxes and apologized for the inconvenience. He then told me there was no need and appreciated that I was just doing my job and he understood how it looked. 

He then thanked me and continued on to finish his purchase. If only all these encounters went this smoothly.