Thief's Delight

There's something I see when I'm out and about which may not be my concern, but which gives me pause and tempts me at the same time. Every store loudly trumpets the virtue of its wares as much as it can via the street-facing facade, but some go a step further. I gather that their thinking is, "What better way to entice the passerby into purchasing our merchandise than to strew it all over the sidewalk outside? They will naturally pause to examine it. We will then, like a spider, detect the activity and emerge for the kill."

Unfortunately, their best intentions seem to be for nought. How many people actually are drawn in I cannot say, but I do know that no one has ever come out to sell me something when I've stopped to look at things outside. Maybe that's because they saw from inside the store that I'm clearly a low-grade prospect with little money and less serious interest. After all, I am walking past their store and not driving, but then that shows just how defective the logic of the plan truly is. I do wonder, what could they be thinking?

Worse still, there seems to be no assurances for them from a security standpoint. I think it would be quite easy to size up what is on offer and casually grab something without breaking stride. Are they paying enough attention to thwart a would-be thief? It doesn't seem like it, though I may be mistaken. Then again, might they be figuring acceptable losses into their plan, so enamored are they with this out-front strategy of promotion? I guess it's possible. I think that it's a mistake, but you don't see me with my own retail business or the capital or credit to begin one. These people are out there with stores that aren't going anywhere from what I can see, so there must be something to their business acumen.

They must just have the public figured better than I have. Some people wouldn't even think of taking that stuff. Others, like me, see the possibility but are chiefly deterred by the fact that it would be wrong. Still others are unswayed by morality but recoil from whatever risk they see of being caught. That risk may be more sizable than I realize. I'll tell you what's less a risk and more a reality: these stores with their junk out on the sidewalk makes the neighborhood look cheap. Knock it off, guys.