By Eric Wolf Schoen
The retail theft retaliation (RTR) has begun. And, We, the Customers are affected. Last week I told you how I was hoping that stores would not eliminate their self checkout lines. It gives the customer the ability to make sure they are being charged the right prices, that all coupons are coming off, all discounts are coming off and to pack their bags the way they want to.
It’s Sunday night, and I am doing my shopping at Target at Cross County. I bring my 12 items to the self checkout aisle, I am the only one there and all of a sudden the cashier in charge of monitoring the Self Checkout line and the Security Guard also known as Officer Target approach my cart. The duo say in unison, ‘Sorry sir but maximum number of items in self checkout is 10.’ I am the wrong person to say that too! They point to new signs just put up with the new max 10 items policy.
I took two items from my cart and said to the dynamic duo, ‘Don’t Waste my time. I won’t buy the 2 items. I don’t suffer. Your store sales will suffer. It means less money in the kitty for raises for you.
Seconds later the dynamic duo apologized to me and told me that I could go through self checkout with my 12 items. I told them they need to communicate to management how ridiculous the 10 item policy is, even more so when the line is empty.
News reports say the restriction is caused by product theft taking place all over America. And you and I know that restricting the number of items allowed in self checkout won’t stop thieves from getting what they want. Good to see Officer Target off his phone and doing something other than staring and flirting with pretty girls. And the self checkout cashier aggressively patrolling the self checkout aisle, even though I was the only one online.
My time is valuable. Since I am not stealing why penalize me and the other honest shoppers from purchasing items at the quantity we need.
Moral of the story. If you go to Target and they start counting your items in the self checkout line do as I did and hand the items above 10 to the cashier and/person of highest rank in the self service line. Be aggressive and very soon stores like Target will realize how ridiculous their theft prevention policies have become. And the cashier and Officer Targets and store security team will do their job to fight retail theft.
A Puzzlement!
Monday night I went to the NAACP meeting held at the Nepperhan Community Center on Warburton Avenue. There were 2 main issues under discussion. The January 4 Roosevelt High School vs. Leffell School controversy and the status of the Nepperhan Community Center.
I was basically there as not only a member but as columnist concerned with the report issued by the President of the NAACP branch that was labeled an investigation but where the President of the Branch only interviewed the Roosevelt students and did not interview the students from the Leffell School. I stated the report was unfair, not an investigation and not in keeping with the long standing policies and procedures established by the NAACP for doing such reports. You can’t call an investigation a report where only one side was interviewed.
The President said that as there was an Op Ed piece written by a Leffell student he didn’t feel it was necessary to interview the Leffell students and only had to interview the Roosevelt students. I again disagreed. I was a member of the NAACP Yonkers Branch when Brother Herman Keith and Brother Winston Ross were President. They would never issue a one sided report as the current President has issued. I don’t think the current President was around in those days, the days when the education and housing segregation issues were the topic of every day in Yonkers.
To his credit the President did say how close the Black and Jewish communities have worked together over the years. I informed him and those present how my parents were present in 1965 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Temple Emanu-El in Yonkers, my Temple. Security was tight, I was 5 years old and my parents did not take me as I was too young to understand the issues. Temple Emanu-El always had a strong relationship with the Black churches of Yonkers and the Black community.
The President of the NAACP complained that Mayor Spano had promised to gather clergy and lay leaders together to discuss what took place at the Basketball game and other issues important to the Black and Jewish community, and that meeting to date had not taken place.
I was surprised that close to 3 months later Mayor Spano had not called together community leaders. I asked the Mayor’s Communications Office if this was true and why no meeting had been called. As I always do when I get a statement from the Spano administration, I am going to quote here the response I received which was to be credited to ‘City of Yonkers Spokesperson’:
‘The City’s Human Rights Commission has been working on this for the past 6 weeks and will produce a response in about a week, in time to respond to the U.S. Department of Education inquiry into the event. We are expecting recommendations on the scope of the incident and connecting the students together with a facilitator.’
Next week will be 3 months since the incident occurred.I was shocked and could no believe that the Interim Superintendent of Schools, the man in charge of Pupil Personnel Services as his day job had not connected the students with a facilitator yet. I checked with a former individual who worked in Pupil Support Services and requested to remain anonymous. The person was shocked too. We both doubted that was the case.
I also checked with a former Chairman of the Yonkers Human Rights Commission, Robert Stauf. I asked if 3 months was a little long for the Human Rights Commission to issue a report. He said a report like this would typically take one month.
I requested clarification from the City spokesperson. I received the following:
The City of Yonkers’ Human Rights Commission review will allow us to understand the scope of the incident. The head of the Leffell School and Interim Supt. Dr. Luis Rodriguez has been in contact regularly to identify the right facilitator. A private session with the students will occur first, it was felt that this session (with the students) should precede any community discussion.
I agree with the NAACP President. The meeting of community leaders should have been called right away. In the best interests of the students the facilitator should and probably has met with the students already.
And if a report on an incident like this takes the Human Rights Commission over 3 months to perform after City Officials including the Mayor have issued statements, the time period for this report is too long and does not benefit any of the parties involved.
The request from an outside individual for an investigation of this incident is looking to see if these types of investigations are being handled in accordance U.S. Department of Education regulations.
The goal of everyone involved in this situation should be to help the students, heal any divisions and bring the community together.
There was passionate discussion at the meeting of the future of the Nepperhan Community Center. The inspector general for the City of Yonkers issued a report on financial irregularities and issues serious enough to have the Obama Foundation withdraw support. City of Yonkers dollars are precious and should not be given to any organization that does not have systems in place to properly manage the funds.
A Statement from Mayor Mike Spano:
“The Nepperhan Community Center is and will remain a viable asset to our City. My commitment is to keep it operating for the tradition it provides and for the benefit of the people in our community.”
An eloquent individual with a rich public service background was introduced at the NAACP meeting. I hope that she is considered as a permanent administrator for the Nepperhan Community Center as she appears to have the love and support of those at the meeting and the young people who grew up at the center and want it to be available to serve the next generation.
On all these issues that came up at the NAACP meeting, all we can do is pray that they are resolved to benefit the community and the fine residents of the City of Yonkers.
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com, or friend him on Facebook Eric Schoen…just look for him in the picture with Joan Rivers!
