I know it's not my fault as I had the Friday of Mini Cheddars 2nd birthday already booked off and the other 2 I only managed 2 hours work before she took really ill and then I picked up the norovirus too.
However, what I can do is blog about it which will ease my guilt. It won't make me feel any better with what I have to blog about today though.
When I popped into the shop a couple of weeks ago to
I'd heard the odd rumour about charity shop theft before but didn't think much about it. I was told that you could usually tell a theft had taken place as the large wooden hangers would be left empty on the rail.
Our shop is split into two rooms and when you're on the till in the front room you can't see the back room. This is where the fitting room is and wooden hangers would often be left in there too I'd been told. Shocking.
It was pushing 4pm - closing time - and customers in the shop were starting to become few and far between. I'd been upstairs sorting some stock and then went to help cash up and sort the books at the till downstairs. As I went downstairs I noticed a slim, well dressed woman in her 40's in the front part of the shop, she was holding a really lovely sleeveless top on it's wooden hanger. She went into the back room as we were on the till cashing up in the front.
About 5 minutes later she passed by us (you have to go right past the the till to exit the shop), smiled and said goodbye. We didn't think anything of it. Then one of the other volunteers said "I saw her with that cream sleeveless top before, she went to try it on I think, did she leave it in the changing room? I hope she did as I didn't see her put it back".
My heart sank. Surely this pleasant and polite woman wouldn't have stolen it? I went into the changing room. No top, but no hanger either. She must have put it back on the rail and we'd just not seen her. My faith in humankind restored.
As I walked out of the fitting room, there staring back at me was a large wooden hanger with a size 8 clip on it, empty and discarded in the 'bargain bucket'.
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| Photo credit: africa |
This top was no more than £3.00 to purchase.
£3.00.
Yes, £3.00.
£3.00 can provide 8 children with treatment for life-threatening diarrhea.
How can these people sleep at night?
I know a lot of people are feeling the pinch under this new government but seriously, stealing from a charity shop? That's some new kind of low.
If you would like to read my other blog posts about Save The Children and volunteer work, you can view them here:
Charity Doesn't Always Begin At Home
Born To Volunteer
