When Your Brain And Morals Need To Be Refitted

I worked for a mid-range fashion store. A store was being refitted, and the company was bringing in visual merchandisers as well as asking nearby staff to join in. I was part-time, could do with the money, and wanted to progress onto merchandising, so I volunteered.

This story was from the merchandisers who regularly worked together for refits and setting up new stores. A few weeks before, they had worked on fitting a new store whilst staff were being trained.

One of the new workers went to their locker and found it open, and there was money missing from their bag. They reported it, and fortunately, the store already had cameras set up, and they caught who did it.

They pulled the girl into the manager’s office and asked her if she had taken the money (I think it was £20).

Thief: *Bluntly* “Yes. I needed it. I’ll pay it back when I get my first pay.”

Manager: “That is unacceptable. I’ll have someone escort you out.”

Thief: “All right.”

And she followed the boss to the exit.

The next morning, she was at the side door waiting to come in; they had changed the passcode as per protocol, and she couldn’t gain access. Apparently, she thought her only punishment was leaving work the previous day!

The boss had to explain that stealing was a sackable offence. She disagreed because she had promised to pay the money back.