‘I steal from the self-serve check out. Should I feel guilty?’

Putting in avocados as brown onions at the self-serve check out is so common it’s a running joke. But is it ever OK?

Is it ever OK to steal from the self-serve check out?

Welcome to The Dilemma, where psychologist Jacqui Manning offers advice on your ethical questions and moral dilemmas. This week she delves into whether you can justify stealing from the self-serve check out at the supermarket.

Question: I recently admitted to my boyfriend that I steal from the self-serve check out at the supermarket pretty regularly – think scanning avocados as brown onions. I thought he’d see the funny side, but he’s furious and is demanding I stop immediately. Here’s the thing though – I don’t think I’m in the wrong, given we’re in a cost of living crisis, and the big chains have been driving up inflation. Do I have a leg to stand on? – Petra, SA

Is it ever OK to steal from the self-serve check out? Picture: iStock

Answer: Ahh, the old cozzie livs argument.

The cost of living is affecting us all at every turn – rents, interest rate hikes, petrol prices, insurance premiums and groceries have all gone up with seemingly lightning speed recently. I get ‘till shock’ every time I do a shop, with those small incidental shops consisting of a few items only regularly edging up to the $100 mark.

You’re not alone in justifying your stance on stealing from the big chains. According to Finder, almost one in five Australians steal from supermarkets through self-serve check-outs, and in NSW there has been a 38 per cent increase in retail store shoplifting. 37 per cent have done the ‘brown onion’ scanning switch, 32 per cent skip scanning items at a self-checkout terminal and 28 per cent straight out pocket items.

Entering an avocado as a brown onion is now a legendary self check out trick. Picture: iStock

Those who are doing it feel that the profits of the big chains are scamming people out of money, and they take a kind of delight in rorting the system. There was a difference in attitudes according to age groups with those aged 55+ saying retail theft was ‘not at all’ justifiable compared to those aged 18-34 who said shoplifting was a ‘little’ to ‘completely’ justifiable.

Perhaps it’s the duopoly of supermarkets here in Australia that needs to be considered as the real problem, as some argue price controls should be brought in like governments in other countries are trying to do elsewhere (for example in NZ and Europe).

Stealing is a criminal offence and carries heavy penalties across Australia, even potentially jail time. But aside from the legal aspects, what are the morals here?

Your boyfriend may not only be furious you are putting yourself at risk of getting a criminal record, but it may raise doubts in his mind about what else you may do when no one else is looking and says something about your character to him. If you’re comfortable tricking Colesworths that you may be comfortable enough tricking him one day.

If you want to retain your Robin Hood-like mentality, only you can decide if the risk – both criminal and moral – is of a higher or lower worth to you than saving a couple of bucks on your tomatoes.

Jacqui Manning is The Friendly Psychologist.

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