If this doesnt horrify you NOTHING will...

[Missyanthrope]

I found this site this morning while doing some randon surfing. I immediately thought of this site. I am just....I have no words....I feel dirty for having read it now. In my opinion this website is teaching people to be a SC, and get away with whatever they want.

http://wiki.stealthiswiki.org/wiki/Table_of_Contents

Let me give you a few real jems from this utter pigsty of a website...

"If shoplifting food seems easy, it's nothing compared to the snatching of clothing. Shop only the better stores. Try things on in those neat secluded stalls. "

"Nowadays, stealing from the grocery store is incredibly easy. XXXXXXX has no sensors, so walking out with items is easy. XXXX's does have detectors, but they only go off on alcohol and things like that. [snip] Gooood deal"

"Get your hands on a plastic cup from a gas station or fast-food restaurant. Swipe 'em from tables, ask for a cup of water, or surreptiously peruse the trash bin. This guarantees you free drinks there for as long as you have the cup."

"Do not forget the wonderous resource that is your local hotel. Many hotels offer complimentary breakfasts, a fact which you can use to your advantage"

"For more permanent [housing] needs, squatting is not only free, it's a revolutionary act. If you stay quiet you can stay indefinitely. If you have community support you may last forever."

[Rapscallion]

Right, folks. We debated not approving this post. Missyanthrope means well, but we don't want people going over there and defacing the place.

The book the site was based on was written in the seventies, and to us in customer service it is truly horrifying. Read it, weep, but please don't deface it. They have the right to their corner of the Internet, just as we do here.

Rapscallion

[Jester]

I am going to go out on a limb here, and risk angering many people here.

The site is based on Abbie Hoffman's book "Steak This Book!" which was a majorly anti-establishment book by a majorly anti-establishment guy. (If you are not familiar with Abbie Hoffman, feel free to google him. Very amazing guy.) You may or may not agree with what he had to say, but understand it was writting THIRTY YEARS AGO.

When it comes to much of his material that is directed at being anti-government, frankly, I am all for it. His whole thing was to help low-income people and minorities; basically, those people that to him and many counter culture folks were being restricted, limited, or targeted by the government.

There are people who would say that the same thing is going on today. Many think that the government, not limited to just this administration, is against those people who don't have money, and they are systematically making the rich richer and the poor poorer. And for these people, the Hoffman book, while dated in many ways, is still just as powerful.

You may not like it because of the job you have, true. But so many on this site go on about how they hate their jobs and/or their bosses, I find it hard to believe that all of them would be opposed to such anti-establishment anti-corporation activities, suggestions, and guidelines.

I myself am a fan of Abbie Hoffman. Do I agree with everything he did or wrote? No. But to label his works as an SC Guideline is just something I can't idly sit by for. Because that is simplification of the facts beyond all reason, in my opinion.

Now, feel free to lob your tomatoes my way. But I stand by the above opinions.

[Rapscallion]

The problem is that when someone takes such 'affirmitive action', someone else suffers. Sure, waltzing off with an armful of clothes or getting drinks/food that hasn't been paid for is a great way to live cheaply, but where does the company find the money to afford this? They trim the frontline working staff - other people on low wages.

The big corporations don't really feel it so much - they plan for a certain level of 'shrink'. If it gets too high, they shed low-paid, disposable workers.

Rapscallion

[Jester]

As I said, I did not agree with all of Hoffman's ideas or methods. And some of his stuff is horribly outdated.

But his book was written more for the disenfranchised masses, not for people who were comfortable in their jobs. To a degree, he saw people who were comfortable in their jobs as part of the establishment, or sellouts, and either way, thus part of the "enemy" that was the government and the establishment.

I just do not agree with labeling him as some uber SC for what he wrote, and that is basically what the OP did. (No offense meant to the OP, mind you.)

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The best thing to do is to ignore it.

There is nothing in that website that I haven't seen a thousand times before. It's just a compilation of all the dirty tricks that SC's use all the time.

We just have to keep our eyes open and stay alert.

M

[Boozy]

I'm glad that Jester pointed out that this is a political/social movement.
Whether you agree with it or not (and I won't debate that here), I think it is fairly evident that this type of thinking is different from the typical "I deserve free stuff because I'm better than everyone else" mindset of the SC.
The mindset here seems to be "I need free stuff because I've chosen to live on the fringes of society. Down with corporate America!"
Another big difference - SCs are often shocked and appalled when companies don't bend to their will (You can't treat customers like this! Do you know who I am? etc). The members of this movement expect and understand that they will meet with opposition. They know that what they're doing is considered wrong by society - but they just don't agree with society.
Again, I won't argue that one mindset is any better than the other. Just different.

[SuperB]

I find that site and it's mindset appalling. I deal with shoplifters in my store and when they steal here, they are not stealing from the "establishment" they are not stealing from a corporation, they are stealing directly from my family.
If someone is *truely* in need they can ask if I can help them out with something. If they simply steal it, I will turn them in. It's simple respect. We have churches and shelters and places that help. That's what they are there for, we contribute to them in an attempt to do our part and I've given food and coffee free to people who really needed it. Unfortunately, I've also had druggies and drunks think they are entitled. I've had people I know think that because they can't afford something they have the right to take it. Nevermind the fact that their budget covers beer and cigarettes and smoke but not health insurance. If someone is able to walk around lifting whatever they think they are entitled to, they're able to get a job. Most of those who would use that site are not truely in need.

Besides, shoplifting drives prices up. These people are perpetuating their problem and everyone else is paying for it.

[Missyanthrope]

Thak you for pointing out to me how this post could be taken wrongly, Rapscallion. I most certainly never meant for this to be a political or social commentary. I posted it from my view of how these type of action affect those of us working in the retail and customer service industry. In no way did I mean for it to open up a huge argument dealing with any other aspect of what was written then the "sucky customer" aspect.

I won't go into my personal feelings regarding this movement, as I stated I posted this from the disgust I felt as a worker, not as a human being. I do wish to state that I am probably a bit older than most here, and yes I have read Abbie's work...all of it. And I will keep my personal views on him and his writing to myself, because that was not the point of the post. My post in no way spoke of Hoffman, his views, or his direct work.

My point really was from a workers point of view. I've been assaulted by a shoplifter who claimed they were stealing because they could not afford the items, yet had to have their brand new car with chrome wheels towed away when they were arrested. I've seen my husband have to spend his time and his money to evict illegal squatters, and be spit on by the drug using parents (who cant afford an apartment but sure can afford their drugs) for "putting their children on the street".

I would hope to never deny anyone somethnig they truly needed, but in how many instances is this TRULY true? This is a pervasive attitude in our society, that "I am DUE something, and if it isnt given to me I am going to TAKE it." And we on the front lines of retail and customer service are like the men in the WW1 trenches. We are being ordered forward by those in the rear, and we are being fired upon by the other side from their cushy "I am the customer I am always right/big bad corporation can afford this/this isnt hurting anyone and I NEEEEED this" trench.

Please accept my apology if you took offense at the post, but it was not meant that way. I would never wish to put ANYONE here in a compromised position by taking any of the actions the website advocates, for any reason. Again, this was meant as a "sucky customer" post, not a "state of the socio-political nature of our society" post.

[Getoutofmylobby]

Yeah, this website does seem a bit outdated, especially the parts about air travel. The guy suggests it would be easy to sneak onto a flight and i don't see how this is possible now. And he also says flying in a small plane is a real "gas." Nobody says gas anymore.

The OP is right though, that free hotel breakfast suggestion really did horrify me.

[Namrepus221]

Believe it or not, I've been looking for a copy of "Steal this Book" for a while (you'd be suprised how difficult it is to find)

I have no intentions of ever using the information though. More of a collectors item really.

[SuperB]

... I most certainly never meant for this to be a political or social commentary.

Well, the marijuana leaf they use as a logo kinda says it all.

[Rapscallion]

Thak you for pointing out to me how this post could be taken wrongly, Rapscallion.
<SNIP>
Please accept my apology if you took offense at the post, but it was not meant that way.

Hmm? No apology necessary, and no offence taken. We have a rule about not ganging up on other websites, and wikis are notoriously easy to edit. I really want to avoid an inter-site war, if that makes sense.

It certainly made for an interesting read, and if anyone wants to debate the finer points of what is said over at Fratching (new link added to the community section), I'd be more than happy to indulge, but I have to admit that some of the contents were incredible. Some parts, such as living communally and making your own food cheaply, are great. Stealing as a statement against 'the man' was ... jaw dropping.

Thanks for sharing - I'd not heard of the book before.

Rapscallion

[Lace Neil Singer]

And of course, if you continue to steal as a life choice, sooner or later you'll get a free ride in a cop car, followed by free room and board in jail, plus very attentive room mate.