A Nation of Shoplifters

They used to sneer at the Brits as a Nation of Shopkeepers. That’s what the Germans thought when they marched to war in 1914.

But now Mary Wakefield worries that they have become a nation of shoplifters. And she is not talking about boys with pants down around their ankles.

Rob is a kind man, who listens carefully to his conscience and usually follows its advice. He's well off, no family to support, well respected in his field and well balanced - so there's no real explanation, as far as I can see, for the fact that he shoplifts.

Wakefield took a look at all the Evian bottles in his apartment. Expensive habit, she thought. “Not if you steal them from Sainbury’s,” Rob replied.

Didn’t he feel bad?

"Nope," he said, with a defiant smile. "And anyway, your other friends shoplift too."

And it turned out that they did. There are even internet chatrooms where you can discuss how to do it.

"Look, nice-tasting water should be free," said Rob, as I stared at him, still disapproving, over tea. "If I paid for it, I would resent it, and in fact I resent having to go to the horrible supermarket at all."

In Britain, the educated classes rather frown on supermarkets. They have a cult of local and fresh. So that makes it easier to steal from them.

Fortunately the educated classes in the US don’t just frown on Wal-Mart. They wouldn’t be seen dead shopping there. And, of course, they wouldn’t dream of shoplifting in an independent bookstore.

But who knows what they get up to in Barnes & Noble.

But I have a soft spot for the supermarkets. Their workers work hard, and they bring an unimaginable bounty to us every day. On top of that, US retail and food processing are the most productive in the world. It was hard work and attention to detail that got them there.

So I believe they deserve every penny that I spend with them.