This is Bush’s “Compassionate Conservatism” for you.

[LiberalLibra]

Let me start out by saying that I cannot confirm or deny this since I wasn’t there but the person who told me about this had enough details and answered enough of my follow up questions to the point that I believe it happened just the way the person told it to me.

Apparently, one of my neighbors was at an area grocery store (a big chain) and saw a man opening and eating a package of lunchmeat that was on sale for 99 cents. According to my neighbor the guy was trying to be a discreet as possible but was obviously hungry because “he was stuffing it in his mouth as fast as he could chew it”.

My neighbor said “the guy looked like he might be homeless so I decided to give him the $1.00 for the lunchmeat and enough to buy one more package to take with him”. As she was getting in her purse for the money the manager showed up and began screaming at the guy that he was a thief and was going to jail. I guess the manager was so over the edge about the verbal attack on this guy that even a couple of people muttered “poor guy” and was shaking their heads at the manager.

My neighbor tried telling the manager that she was paying for the lunchmeat and that he had not stolen anything if he fully intended to pay for the lunchmeat. At that point, according to my neighbor, the manager started getting red faced and said, “You’d better stay out of this lady unless you want to go to jail right along with him.” Then the manager grabbed the guy by his hair and tried to drag him off saying, “We are getting the police, no one steals in my store.” As they were walking off my neighbor said to the manager, “You do know you are assaulting this poor guy and there are plenty of witnesses that are watching.” I do believe she said that too because my neighbor is a lot like me in that some punk jerk won’t get very far trying to scare her into being quiet. Anyway, the manager ordered some of the employees to remove my neighbor from the store at which point my neighbor said, “Good, by the time I am done with those cops they can haul you off to jail instead of that poor guy.”

According to her she told the cops exactly what happened up to and including the pulling of the guy’s hair. She even gave them her name and address and offered to be a witness for this poor guy.

Guess what? They took the supposed “thief” as well as the manager away in handcuffs. According to my neighbor she stood right outside the grocery store door and said to the manager as the cops led him off, “You don’t look too tough now, what happened.” I believe it too, she is a feisty thing that takes nothing off of anyone. My neighbor said she could see the manager mouthing the word “bitch” as he walked away too.

As for my feelings about this, “compassionate conservatism” wreaks our economy so that there is no money to help the homeless and then turns around and jails them for trying to get something to eat the only way they may have left.

Have I mentioned recently how much I absolutely loathe reTHUGS and neo CONS?????

[leftofthedial]

1. "let them eat cake"

is back in vogue

[leftyandproud]

5. what the manager did was inexcusable..

but stealing is unexcusable too...Are we supposed to make it legal for all hungry people to take what they want from the grocery?

I think the manager needs a week in jail at least. The homeless guy probably spent the night, got a warm meal and a bed...then they let him go, at least I hope so.

[FlaGranny]

10. This looks more like desperation than stealing.

Eating the food IN THE STORE is proof that the man was very, very hungry.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. I've Had This Discussion Witrh Friends Who Are Cops

What if the man was starving?

What if he stole food for his starving infant?

My hpothetchical is based on the fact that the man is flat out broke.

[bpilgrim]

16. they would have to lock him up

especially if someone reported it.

if the cop was all by him/herself they might get a break if they felt that was truely the cause AND it was only a petty theft.

what did they say?
(remember a$$crofts recording ;->

i wanna know what police think about the patriot act?

peace

[MUAD_DIB]

2. I can believe that to be true.

Was it ever written up in the local news?

Before this great administration is brought out and hung by their thumbs there will be much nore of this thing. It will effect people that thought that they were immune to this form of violence.

A little saying for you...

Q: What's the difference between happiness and unrest?

A: One missed meal.

Q: What's the difference between unrest and conflict?

A: Two missed meals.


There are going to be a lot of hungry people out there soon, and this country is armed to the teeth. That manager would not last 2 minutes if he did that to a truly desperate individuals or group.

Besides think of this... the stock ckerks easily eat the back storage: soda, deli meat and snacks when they are in the back room.

Do they get lead off in cuffs? I don't think so.

[DagmarK]

3. I love your neighbor!!!!!!!

WOW! Great for her!!! The authorities will try to make this go away though when no one is paying attention, to save this upstanding manager life and all...cause the authorities will see the manager as WORTHY of extra care. So....I hope the neighbor will stay on the case and make sure assault/battery charges stick.

Plus she gets the homeless guy off by testifying that SHE was going to pay......so no crime was committed.

WOW.......what a great lady! We need to stand up for the fallen and disenfranchised...and she is leading the way.

WHAT STORE WAS THIS????????? And I think you should reveal that.....cause their head office should hear about this.

Can you imagine? That manager might lose his job and may end up homeless himself. Talk about instant karma.

**what disgusts me is in the Safeway by me.......every few days they go through their produce section and fill up this HUGE bin (about 5x5x5 feet) of produce that is past its prime. Now, most of it is those bags of pre-washed lettuce....and there's a sell by date. The lettuce looks GREAT to me. But they have to clear it when the sell by date comes up. HUGE AMOUNTS into the dumpster.

One night i told the guy, "well, I hope you don't lock the dumpster so that homeless people can get that. Or, why doesn't the store donate this to the food bank and soup kitchens the DAY before the sell by date?"

He replied.....NOPE......we put this all into a big trash compactor and crush and minimize its size and it goes into a locked bin.

I just CRINGE about this waste......... We are talking A LOT of produce most everyday.......across my city...across my state......across this country. Just trashed instead of feeding hungry people. It's just EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LiberalLibra]

4. I know, that kind of thing makes me so mad, here people are hungry.....

....and they are throwing perfectly good food away.

BTW, this happened at a King Soopers in Denver, which is a part of the Kroger Corporation.

My neighbor came up with an absolutely brilliant idea to teach that manager a good lesson. If he is convicted of assault or any such thing she wants to appeal to the judge that the manager has to do community service along side the "thief" if he is convicted of anything in a HOMELESS SHELTER of all places.

Oh believe, I've seen my neighbor in action when she is pissed at someone, she is no one to mess with. She is relentless!!!!

That manager has no idea who he messed with, and in a way I feel sorry for him but he also has whatever she has in mind for him coming too.

[LizW]

7. Tell your store manager about Second Harvest

This organization collects usable but unsalable food for distribution to the hungry through food banks. Here's the link:

http://www.secondharvest.org/

[ewagner]

14. Thanks

great organization!

[ewagner]

13. Second Harvest

Is there a Second Harvest group in your area? They gather that stuff for food pantries and homeless shelters....don't know how to get in touch with national organization....maybe google it.

[whoYaCallinAlib]

6. The repukes don't care about the poor.

I hope the bastards burn in hell.

[lpbk2713]

8. Your neighbor ought to pursue the assault charges......

....with upper management of the chain. She may never have to buy groceries again for the rest of her life (and I know that was not her motivation). Evidently management needs to educate their managers.

[LiberalLibra]

9. Oh, if anyone would keep this going it will be her, in fact I have......

....given her a few tips on how to approach management and city officials to keep their attemtion focused on this.

[Harrumph]

12. Last month at Von's...

while I was waiting for my order at the deli counter, I saw the employees stuffing so much food into garbage bags. I asked her if the food past sale date can't be donated to homeless shelters and she replied it was against the law. I was dumbfounded as they kept stuffing meats, cheeses and whole roasted chickens into the bags for garbage. Apparently she saw the look on my face and leaned across the counter and said 'don't worry they know where to look and we separate the real garbage from the out-dated.' Then she gave me a nod and wink. I really felt better knowing that these employees know how to work around the law to make this food available to the people who need it the most.

[ewagner]

15. That's great!

Should call these people "the compassionate underground!"