GOOD MORNING FROM LONDON

It’s a nice day. You walk to the shops. Take in a cup of green tea and a croissant at Starbucks. Then to WH Smith to see if you can buy the latest Grisham novel. As happens, you have some time to spare so you “pick and look”. It’s an enjoyable pastime.

You happen to notice a young lad acting strangely. He is looking left and right in a furtive way. You guess he is up to no good. You try not to seem investigative – it is not your shop after all but you have read recently of a surge in shoplifting and here you are in the middle of what appears to be just such an event.

What to do? Which way to turn? You don’t want to appear pompous and effect a citizen’s arrest – you might find yourself in an altercation even fisticuffs. But you don’t want to turn a blind eye and pretend nothing is happening. Something wrong is taking place and you are there. But how to handle?

It is one thing to watch the evening news and see evidence of shoplifting on a big scale whilst sitting in the comfort of your front room with a cup of tea in hand. But this is Here and Now. You are in the shop and this lad is shoving packets of earphones into his bulging pockets.

All rather clumsily in fact. Not very sophisticated. An amateur not a professional. But theft is theft. The victim is the store and eventually the public because store owners increase prices to compensate for their shoplifting losses.

It is all happening now – before your eyes. You see the ear phones being stuffed into every pocket. The sap is beginning to rise. You can’t let it happen – turn a blind eye “Its nothing to do with me”. At the same time you are not looking to intervene. You are not going to shout “Stop Thief” though that might prompt the lad to drop everything and make a run for it.  Probably a good outcome. No prosecution – no confrontation – no theft just panic as the lad sprints off.

Your mind is racing and you recall the incident in Notting Hill when Hugh Grant catches a book thief pushing a book down the front of his trousers. Grant engages him in soft conversation which encourages the would-be thief to surrender the book and all ends without violence or vocal confrontation..

You decide to act. In a pleasant low key manner you involve the thief in conversation. “Do you know if this shop sells ear phones as my pair are unreliable and I need a replacement.” You then start to “jabber” – intentionally. “I go running and need ear phones to hear Classic FM. I am lost without my ear phones and can’t jog without my music. It’s a real pain but I have to find some new ones. The Doctor has told me to run three times a week so I have to find them. Any ideas where I might find them?”

The lad is troubled. He finds the approach pleasant and friendly and he is not the type – thankfully – to push you aside and run off. He is trapped. He knows where the earphone counter is but is aware that the counter is empty because the contents are in his front pockets.

The lad is flustered. He is destabilised. You sense the moment. And you grab it. You speak quietly to him – “put the earphones back. If you need a pair I will give you the money but don’t get yourself a criminal record and by the way do you support Arsenal or Tottenham?”

Both are local teams and the question usually gets a reaction. He says he supports Liverpool. It doesn’t matter. The topic is on the table, the focus shifts, the tension has eased. The moment has passed.

There is no fixed reaction. You can anticipate but you do not know how you will respond until reality confronts. And you can make the wrong decision, leading to noisy confrontation, pushing/shoving even fisticuffs. There is no hard and fast rule except to decide always to turn a blind eye and not get involved. But that often goes against the grain. You can’t let it pass. You decide to do something.

And it will happen to you – one day. It’s life. We do shop. There are shoplifters. We are human beings. We have a sense of right and wrong.  Some will walk away and others will get involved. It depends on the moment. It depends on us. Correction – it depends on you.

MORE EVERYDAY EVENTS TO FOLLOW

GRAHAM PERRY