T’is the Season to Get Ripped Off

When there’s a single thief, it’s robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it’s taxation.

Vanya Cohen

It’s supposed to be the season of “peace on earth and goodwill to man”, but the thieves and scam artists out there obviously didn’t get the memo.

Saturday mornings I take my mother grocery shopping and we go to a wonderful “all in one store”. They have everything – groceries, housewares, electronics and clothing. I’ve been looking around for a new printer because mine had become more temperamental than I am – sometimes it would scan or print; others times not, depending on its mood. So, clearly it was time for it to go. And, in this store’s weekly flyer they had the printer that I wanted at a terrific price and no tax. Who could ask for more? As soon as we entered the store I told my mother that I was going directly to electronics to buy the printer before it was sold out. I bought the printer and stored it in underneath the shopping cart while we did our grocery shopping.

I didn’t give it a second thought until we got to the cash and I emptied out the cart. At that moment I realized that my printer had disappeared. Not wanting to believe that someone had stolen it, I went up and down every aisle in the store in case it had fallen out (although there is no way I could have missed a very large box falling off my cart), to no avail. Never-the-less I still didn’t want to believe that someone stole it, so I went to customer service to see if anyone had turned it in. Of course no one had. The folks at customer service were lovely. I had my bill and they knew me because I shop there religiously every Saturday morning. They went to electronics and gave me another printer, which mercifully was still in stock.

You really have to be diligent at all times, but particularly at this time of year when the thieves and scam artists are out in full force. It may be the time of peace on earth and goodwill to man, but hang onto your purse and keep an eye on your possessions!

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

Aesop

Make someone smile today.

Geri