At Save on Foods, the clerks carry knives. They carry them on their belts, hung in little pouches, nestled in among the pens and little notepads.
Knives.
I saw one clerk there who had a dark green apron fastened beneath a broad black belt. The cloth hung like a tunic; he looked like a retail Robin Hood, striding about, his knife in his pouch at his side.
That must have been some staff meeting - when they got them. It would have been on a Sunday evening after store closing. The staff would have been grumbling about the mandatory meeting on their day off.
The manager, clearing his throat.
“Inventory has shown a rise in shoplifting of 14% over the last quarter. As per head office, there is a new initiative going forward.”
“Here are your knives.”
Passing the box around.
“Please display them prominently. We don’t have holders yet, head office has said we should get them Wednesday next week.”
“There is a new module on e-learning dealing with the display and brandishing of the knife. There’s a two week deadline, please be responsible and go through it before then. It should be fairly straightforward, I think everyone’s familiar with a knife??”
I wonder if the shoplifters noticed. Maybe in their underground rings they talk about it. “Stay away from Save on. They’re mean over there, and they carry.”
Nah, probably not.
But I bet the packing boxes are terrified.