Middle Class shoplifting to keep up appearances

I was a bit stunned when I read this over at Kendall’s. When I read it, apart from an initial wave of sorrow for these folks the next thing I thought of was the unrealistic standard of living many of us have in the west. This unrealistic standard of living has actually become a “right” which we are entitled to, and which as the article demonstrates many are willing to do anything to maintain for themselves. Of course the answer is not a wag from the finger, nor is it more stimulus money, it is quite simply satisfaction in Christ who can give immeasurably more than a middle class lifestyle.

Middle-class shoppers who have been hit by the recession are stealing hundreds of millions of pounds of expensive food in an effort to maintain their high standard of living, according to a new survey.

Quality cuts of meat, fresh fish and high-priced cheeses are being taken by mostly middle-class women from speciality food and convenience shops, where thefts have risen sharply in the past year. Thousands of retailers have found that luxury foods are being stolen for individual use rather than to be sold on.

The information comes from more than 42,000 shops in Europe with combined sales of £262 billion, who were questioned by the Centre for Retail Research, an independent organisation, for Checkpoint Systems, the retail security specialists.

read the rest over at Kendall’s blog