For those not aware of this fact, I'm NOT a "New York Times Bestselling Writer". To be that, you have to have your books in bookstores, as it's all based on sales in bookstores. Until the past month, none of my books have appeared on bookstore shelves. Until I get the books on more bookstore shelves I don't stand a chance of selling enough books to be noticed by the New York Times, and without those sales, my writing career is moving along as slowly as a herd of snails traveling through peanut butter...
So I work retail, and I notice things that stay in the back of my mind, keeping to themselves and staying out of sight, rather like a coyote living in Central Park, but then I accidentally shine the flashlight in the wrong direction when I'm looking for some other lost tidbit of information and catch the gleam in the thing's eyes....
Such as when I found two packets of pens that are supposed to hold 8 pens in 8 fun colors this past week...
Both packets were missing the purple, the pink, and the turquoise blue pens. Both had to be written off as "stolen", the entire package, because no one wants a package of 8 fun colors that only contains 5 rather more normal colors.....
And as I wrote them off, some little train of thought left the station, traveling around my mind in one big circle that started with "Why would someone do such a thing?"
The answer, according to some on the reality crime dramas I sometimes catch when I'm looking for something to play in the background while I do some work, is that "Prices have gone too high, and I don't have enough money left over at the end of paying my bills to do anything fun, so when I see something I really want, but can't afford, I try to steal it. And when I get away with the first thing, I come back and steal some more.".....
If you ask corporate America what the number one thing is that drives the prices higher, they'll tell you "Theft and the things we have to do to prevent it." There are security cameras that companies now buy, security guards in some stores, little boxes and wires with alarms that products are put into or wrapped with, and little stick-on tags that will set off alarms at entrance and exit doors should you try to leave with the product. There are even security tags on clothing now that will destroy the product you're trying to steal buy shooting dye onto it - and sometimes you - if you try to steal it.....
All of the security measures needed to prevent theft cost money. Although the products we buy now are usually made in sweat shops to save on labor costs, the costs for the security needed to keep the finished product on the store shelf long enough for an honest person to walk in and purchase it has skyrocketed, so the cost is added to the cost of the product, putting the costs of things up so that the average human being can't make enough to be able to afford all the necessities, so some turn to theft....
And so the circle of life progresses, and makes me want to knock the wheels off this train by stopping the thief and saying "YOU'RE why we can't afford to buy nice things!"
[There is the sound in the background of a train whistle, sounding almost terrified; the screech of the iron wheels against the iron rails as the train tries to stop suddenly; the crash of the cars tumbling in disarray on the trees lining this part of the train track; and then, blissful silence. We have successfully derailed this train of thought.]
So I work retail, and I notice things that stay in the back of my mind, keeping to themselves and staying out of sight, rather like a coyote living in Central Park, but then I accidentally shine the flashlight in the wrong direction when I'm looking for some other lost tidbit of information and catch the gleam in the thing's eyes....
Such as when I found two packets of pens that are supposed to hold 8 pens in 8 fun colors this past week...
Both packets were missing the purple, the pink, and the turquoise blue pens. Both had to be written off as "stolen", the entire package, because no one wants a package of 8 fun colors that only contains 5 rather more normal colors.....
And as I wrote them off, some little train of thought left the station, traveling around my mind in one big circle that started with "Why would someone do such a thing?"
The answer, according to some on the reality crime dramas I sometimes catch when I'm looking for something to play in the background while I do some work, is that "Prices have gone too high, and I don't have enough money left over at the end of paying my bills to do anything fun, so when I see something I really want, but can't afford, I try to steal it. And when I get away with the first thing, I come back and steal some more.".....
If you ask corporate America what the number one thing is that drives the prices higher, they'll tell you "Theft and the things we have to do to prevent it." There are security cameras that companies now buy, security guards in some stores, little boxes and wires with alarms that products are put into or wrapped with, and little stick-on tags that will set off alarms at entrance and exit doors should you try to leave with the product. There are even security tags on clothing now that will destroy the product you're trying to steal buy shooting dye onto it - and sometimes you - if you try to steal it.....
All of the security measures needed to prevent theft cost money. Although the products we buy now are usually made in sweat shops to save on labor costs, the costs for the security needed to keep the finished product on the store shelf long enough for an honest person to walk in and purchase it has skyrocketed, so the cost is added to the cost of the product, putting the costs of things up so that the average human being can't make enough to be able to afford all the necessities, so some turn to theft....
And so the circle of life progresses, and makes me want to knock the wheels off this train by stopping the thief and saying "YOU'RE why we can't afford to buy nice things!"
[There is the sound in the background of a train whistle, sounding almost terrified; the screech of the iron wheels against the iron rails as the train tries to stop suddenly; the crash of the cars tumbling in disarray on the trees lining this part of the train track; and then, blissful silence. We have successfully derailed this train of thought.]
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