Don’t get treated like a criminal just for doing your Christmas shopping.

I just got back from picking up a few items at the local Target, and wanted to share a quick thought. As I was leaving the store, there was a lady with two kids and a shopping cart being harrassed by the security guard because one of her “security control devices” had not been successfully disabled, and activated the door alarm as she was leaving. Isn’t Christmas shopping hard enough without being harrassed by a security guard because your checker fucked up?

The security guard was going through each one of this lady’s bags, going through her personal posessions (that’s right, they’re hers - she paid for them, and now they belong to her, and no longer the store) just because the alarm went off.

I wanted to tell her that she is under no oligation to succumb to this harrassment, but I think she was having a hard enough time controlling the kids and proving her innocence (guilty until proven innocent) to the security guard without someone expressing his opinion on her plight.

But for you, my loyal readers, I do want to let you know that when you are out there doing your Christmas shopping, you are under no obligation to allow any security guard to search your bags, or examine your receipt, even if you set off the sensor. If you have paid for your items, they are legally yours, and you do not need to prove to anyone from a security guard to store management, to even the police, that they are rightfully yours. If you are not shoplifting, then don’t let them treat you like you are.