Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 763 posts

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#241

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

nuclearnice3 wrote: post #173
z9znz wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm not putting all the pieces together correctly. What is the significance of her wearing a hijab? Why is that worthy of mention, or the fact that the owner family was from Turkey? And also the Thanksgiving eve bit?

They are just details. Let them echo around in your head as you like. Maybe she's from a conservative part of the world that doesn't have too many woman turning out as doctors. Maybe supporting her family of immigrants, who might not have a ton of money and are dealing with some of the hard things that being new in a strange country brings. Maybe in the deep background you can sense an unhappy reason they left Turkey…

my coworker is from turkey. wears a hijab. or did until very recently, interestingly enough. nice woman. very smart. fiesty.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#242

Post by mlyle »

jfengel wrote: post #230
public_defender wrote: post #159

Expert in stolen goods here. I was talking to a NYC colleague the other day about how there are trends in favor of not punishing people for certain criminal activity in the city. We were talking about driving with a suspended license, but I asked about shoplifting. She said, "Oh, no. That's on the opposite trend. Not only are they prosecuting it to the maximum, but they just changed the law to make it easier to hold…

What is more effective and humane? Is it about removing the poverty that drives that kind of theft, or were you thinking of something more direct?

This is about organized retail bulk theft. Punishing the individual shoplifters is useful. But it's also useful to crack down on secondary markets through which (mostly) stolen goods are shifted.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#243

Post by ars »

jakelazaroff wrote: post #69
MichaelCollins wrote: post #33

> "The stores are insured bro, why do you care if people steal from them? It's not your problem maaan." This is why I care. Criminals degrade society and we all suffer for their greed.

That’s one perspective. Another is that the truly greedy thing is to construct a society such that some people can’t afford basic necessities, and that inflicts far more suffering than people stealing what they need to live.

If that were actually true someone could hold up a sign in front of CVS or whatever saying "please buy me a stick of deodorant", and I can guarantee you someone will.

They can go to a soup kitchen, or a church, or a food panty and ask for basic necessities.

Americans are very generous, especially conservative ones, who lead the world in charity and generosity. There is no excuse to steal when you can just ask.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#244

Post by subradios »

ryan_lane wrote: post #180
subradios wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regulating legitimate business activity out of existence to support progressive prosecutors ideas about shoplifting and street crime is the opposite of a solution.

Knowing your suppliers and that their goods are legitimate is a pretty basic function of a business, and calling people progressive to enforce that is a bit strange. Amazon isn't a pawn shop. They have a lot of choice when it comes to dealing with known businesses.

It is a valuable activity that Amazon and eBay will ship any product to anyone at a fair price with a minimum of obligatory hoop jumping.

The more pressure they receive from the public and regulators to put a stop to those dastardly shoplifters, the more room Nike has to stop people from selling Nike shoes without a badge of certification from Nike.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#245

Post by dsfyu404ed »

Gigachad wrote: post #174
somesortofthing wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want law enforcement to deal with petty crimes, you're going to have to contend with the externalities of cops operating anywhere. How many bystanders and innocent people reported by paranoid suburbanites are you willing to see injured or killed to protect that deodorant shelf?

Car culture has done this. The destruction of regular meeting places that get you to know and trust your neighbours. Now everyone you see is an untrusted stranger.

>Now everyone you see is an untrusted stranger.

People have been complaining about this since the advent of cities.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#246

Post by someguydave »

public_defender wrote: post #159

Expert in stolen goods here. I was talking to a NYC colleague the other day about how there are trends in favor of not punishing people for certain criminal activity in the city. We were talking about driving with a suspended license, but I asked about shoplifting. She said, "Oh, no. That's on the opposite trend. Not only are they prosecuting it to the maximum, but they just changed the law to make it easier to hold…

It seems you are a fan of closing down urban retail

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#247

Post by deadbolt »

coredog64 wrote: post #122
fragmede wrote: post #53

I've lived in the same city now (not NYC) for 10+ years, so I'm moderately connected with all sorts of people and not just a bubble of affluent tech people. So I'll be real, I know some sketchy people that probably do drugs or at least know where to find some. What I don't know, however, is any "fences". That is, someone that traffics in stolen goods. Or maybe I do, they don't exactly advertise their services. I've n…

Chains in Manhattan put stickers on the merchandise that tell you where it came from. While you could remove them, it’s a PITA and cuts into your margins. If you don’t remove it, there is a clear signal to Amazon that these are stolen goods.

I've found these in CVS's near Detroit. I had no idea it was due to people stealing them and reselling on Amazon.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#248

Post by SpelingBeeChamp »

partiallypro wrote: post #179

This is such a big nationwide problem that Target actually mentioned it during their earnings report (this is stated in the article.) Some states/cities have made it near impossible to prosecute these people, so the risk/reward is very favorable to stealing and reselling. Some stores have even closed down in certain areas because of it. When we talk about "food deserts" in some cities, it could one day be we have mas…

I don’t know of any states that have made it near impossible to prosecute shoplifters. What are you referring to?

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#249

Post by uejfiweun »

Gigachad wrote: post #174
somesortofthing wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want law enforcement to deal with petty crimes, you're going to have to contend with the externalities of cops operating anywhere. How many bystanders and innocent people reported by paranoid suburbanites are you willing to see injured or killed to protect that deodorant shelf?

Car culture has done this. The destruction of regular meeting places that get you to know and trust your neighbours. Now everyone you see is an untrusted stranger.

I think cars are only a symptom of the real issue, which is that the scale of modern society is just too big for our brains to comprehend or handle. I don't think getting rid of cars would necessarily help one cope with the fact that 99.9999% of people you see are untrusted strangers.

Re: Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

#250

Post by someguydave »

nuclearnice3 wrote: post #173
z9znz wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm not putting all the pieces together correctly. What is the significance of her wearing a hijab? Why is that worthy of mention, or the fact that the owner family was from Turkey? And also the Thanksgiving eve bit?

They are just details. Let them echo around in your head as you like. Maybe she's from a conservative part of the world that doesn't have too many woman turning out as doctors. Maybe supporting her family of immigrants, who might not have a ton of money and are dealing with some of the hard things that being new in a strange country brings. Maybe in the deep background you can sense an unhappy reason they left Turkey…

It seems like you are a big fan of judging people on the basis of superficial appearances.
Post reply on HN