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Why it’s hard to buy deodorant in Manhattan

economist.com

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

#401

Post by z9znz »

mattkrause wrote: post #399
z9znz wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are filling in so many details that are not there. But whether that is correct or not is not the point. The point is, why mention it? Should we be surprised, or should we be impressed that an immigrant Muslim family was involved? I just don't know what the OP wants me to feel. It's touchy, but it is ambiguous. Is that good? Is that bad? Is it stereotypical? Is it challenging expectations?

I think the point is that there’s a human on the other side too, not faceless corporation. Rhetorically, the story works just as well if it’s a scary-looking guy in a biker jacket, helping his sister open a ballet studio, or someone clad head-to-toe in Rangers’ gear.

> scary-looking guy in a biker jacket, helping his sister open a ballet studio

I think this illustrates the possible unspoken angle of the post. Is the post trying to show a surprising contrast? And if so, should I be surprised to see anyone, hijab or not, working in a family pharmacy store while also working on their MD?

With your example, a scary-looking guy in a biker jacket evokes a certain feeling (fear, worry, etc.), but then we find out that he's just a good guy helping his sister do something that's very unlike his nature - or the nature we would assume a "scary-looking" guy in a biker jacket would be about.

By this example, I would take it to mean that your interpretation is that a girl in a hijab is a scary person to worry about, but in reality she's just a good, smart, hard-working girl helping her family.

This is why I raised the initial question. These couple of extra specific details lead somewhere. I wanted to know where, because the perspective was not provided. The reader was left to make their own assumptions or draw conclusions. Based on your example, we see one conclusion: fear of people in hijabs, but that such fear is not appropriate.

I take the perspective that the hijab doesn't represent a special person nor a person to fear any more than a guy with a baseball cap on his head sideways means something other than "he likes to wear a cap in a way that doesn't block the light from his eyes".

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

#402

Post by capitalsigma »

marricks wrote: post #354
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think it's very fair to have differing attitudes/moral thresholds for an impoverished mother shoplifting a week's worth of baby formula versus "a couple in Alabama [which] pled guilty to shifting $300,000-worth of stolen baby formula on eBay". I’ve also noticed a weird tendency to downplay theft lately, either through projecting a theoretical moral justification on to the shoplifter or by insinuating that retail…

Quoted post unavailable.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/09/profile-of-th...

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

#403

Post by _-david-_ »

wffurr wrote: post #326
nxm wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Wow, barbaric. In fact, that's truly awful. I wish it surprised me that human beings could think or say such things.

Letting people engaging in violent antisocial behavior is barbaric. I wish it surprised me that human beings could think or say such things.

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

#404

Post by capitalsigma »

dls2016 wrote: post #363
axutio wrote: post #161

Most of the comments here are ignoring the difference between regular old shoplifting and the trend driving the increase discussed in the article, which they're referring to as "organized retail crime". I think it's very fair to have differing attitudes/moral thresholds for an impoverished mother shoplifting a week's worth of baby formula versus "a couple in Alabama [which] pled guilty to shifting $300,000-worth of s…

> Most of the comments here are ignoring the difference between regular old shoplifting and the trend driving the increase discussed in the article, which they're referring to as "organized retail crime". I guess, but conversely I'd argue that organized retail theft has been around pretty much as long as supply chains have existed. That's the mob's bread and butter. The phrase "riding shotgun" is in common use. Perha…

Understaffing doesn't justify crime. You probably understaff your home security, leaving it empty all day while you're at work. Do you deserve to be robbed?

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

#405

Post by bombcar »

Scoundreller wrote: post #355
bombcar wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make a small but moderate side income reselling clearance LEGO on eBay. Even with the Walmart sticker still on it, no theft involved.

Or international arbitrage. Lots of stuff sold cheaper in USA than other places. Even stuff like a big bottle of ibuprofen or allergy pills are much more expensive in Canada. While arbitraging deodorant sounds silly, I have bought EU roll-on deodorants online before because they're not much of a thing in North America. And they don't melt into a mess in a hot car. Deodorants are hardly a thing in SE Asia, partly beca…

There can also be customs arbitrage as small packages from little sellers can slip through.

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

#406

Post by bombcar »

nradov wrote: post #315
bombcar wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just a database of serial numbers .

A database of serial numbers alone wouldn't be sufficient. Counterfeiters frequently copy real serial numbers and print them on fake products. There are more effective means such as tamper resistant RFID tags, but those aren't cost effective for cheap items. And often no one bothers to check anyway.

It was more for tracking stolen product.

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

#407

Post by Aerroon »

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.

What are these "basic necessities"? To me it seems like it's an ever-increasing list of things that were largely created in the modern era. A person from a few hundred years would hardly consider deodorant a basic necessity.

We consider them basic necessities, because we're used to them, but all these new inventions had to be made by somebody. The profit motive seems to be quite good at incentivizing people to do just that. If we discourage that then the basic necessities of tomorrow might not get invented.

Society doesn't conspire to cause poverty, nature already inflicted that upon us.

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

#408

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#409

Post by flutas »

c_hackett wrote: post #293
alar44 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is "the US"? You realize that's an entire fucking continent with vastly different economic situations? Just looked it up on instacart, it's $4.29 here.

This comment is not only rude but also inaccurate regarding basic geography. On the topic of price the item in question shows as been between $8.50 - $11.50 depending on store in the first zip that instacart loaded (94105). Checking another zip (07081) it's between $7.50 - $11.50. As a result $9.95 does not seem outside normal parameters for this item. https://www.instacart.com/store/walgreens/products/1585122 The US…

I can get that 3.8oz can at $4.09 via instacart as well.

https://www.instacart.com/store/family-dollar/products/15851...

> The US item is also materially smaller than the UK version.

I'm fairly sure the US version is weight of the product (not including the can), and the UK version is volume.

US version is listed at "NET WT 3.8OZ/107g", where if it was volume (like the UK) it would be listed as "3.8 FL. OZ". [0]

UK version is listed at 250ML (can't find a good image of the listing on the label), so I suspect is volume rather than weight.

[0]:

> Fluid ounces measures the volume of a liquid and net weight measures the mass of a solid. You may have heard of ‘gross weight’ but it shouldn’t be listed on product labels because it can be confusing and misleading to consumers. Gross weight combines the weight of the contents and container, whereas the net weight only measures the contents.

> Since fluid ounces and net weight measure different things, they don’t equal each other. For example, 8 fl. oz. of juice doesn’t equal 8 net wt. oz. of chips.

https://consolidatedlabel.com/label-articles/fluid-ounces-or...

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

#410

Post by oerpli »

public_defender wrote: post #365
LawTalkingGuy wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the street-level shoplifter will be the target of most policy interventions here, which is the least effective and least humane strategy. Getting a low-level criminal or junkie off the street, alive, is worth a lot. You can then offer them a chance to turn their sentence into rehab or something if they don't need jail. And there's no reason we can't go for the higher ups too, there's (jail)time for everyone!

> Getting a low-level criminal or junkie off the street, alive, is worth a lot. Off the street and on to Riker's Island. A jail so dangerous that it has a high likelihood of being put into federal receivership in the next year. People are safer on the street. Full stop.

But the streets are safer with some of those people in Riker.
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