Time to pack it in, old man. It's the assisted-living or nursing home for you.

With it being Florida and all, I assume he drove himself there, no short-term memory and all.

Uncle Leo!

Managers at that Publix say in a police report that he has shoplifted before.

And there we go.

Mmmmm pie. I like me some pie.

stpauler: Managers at that Publix say in a police report that he has shoplifted before.

And there we go.

add this

Publix claims the man has shoplifted before, but no police report was available to back up that claim.

and that's not saying he hasn't shoplifted in the past and they just didn't file a police report, just a little more information from an article brave enough to call the pie a fruity freebie

Get off my Pie!

/and lawn too.

I got caught stealing once when i was.....

What? no pictures of the jerry's uncle from seinfeld?

Diogenes: My neighborhood is packed with the elderly so the local Publix always has a bunch of them. I could easily see one of their repeated scatterbrain moments in line be mistaken for shoplifting. Especially the ones in those motorized cart thingys.

Hell, I've seen some of them just hand their whole wallet to the cashier because they get frustrated and don't know how to deal.

Ya know, I have wondered about this. Are they stupid to begin with, or will I myself one day do stupid scatterbrained things like this?

Not enough info in TFA.

If the cashier failed to ring up an item that was in the cart/basket, well then shame on the cashier, and Publix writes it off at their next quarterly inventory.

If the old man concealed the pie, either accidentally or deliberately, then he gets a stern talking-to. If he's a habitual offender, he's either banned from the store or his grandkids buy him soap-on-a-rope.

Crafty devil, paying for everything else, but trying to get away with the prize! The precious...the pie.

Throw him in jail!

/And then he walks right through the door

Apple Pie is one hell of a drug

Hey that place isn't running a charity. Maybe now this old fart will remember to pay for his pie in the future.

Was it this old guy...


?

BlorfMaster: Diogenes: My neighborhood is packed with the elderly so the local Publix always has a bunch of them. I could easily see one of their repeated scatterbrain moments in line be mistaken for shoplifting. Especially the ones in those motorized cart thingys.

Hell, I've seen some of them just hand their whole wallet to the cashier because they get frustrated and don't know how to deal.

Ya know, I have wondered about this. Are they stupid to begin with, or will I myself one day do stupid scatterbrained things like this?

Combination of a couple of different things.
1) Inability to deal with POS card-reader systems. They grew up with cash, checks, and handing the credit card to the cashier. Any time they have to run the card through a swipe-reader and pick a couple of options on the touch-screen, they freak out.
2) Vanity. Wear your freaking glasses already!!!!
3) Parkinson's, arthritis, etc. - if you're too shaky to handle the money, just tell the cashier and they'll help you. Or maybe you should consider getting a wallet that isn't stuffed with 800 cards and 1700 receipts, notes, photos, and discount cards.

He's an Apple Fanboy.

He got what was coming to him!

GodsTumor: Was it this old guy...


?

Wow do you write your own material?

It was pie, Godstumor, not PANCAKES!

Was it good pie?

10 hours? For a 79 year old that's the equivalent of 5 years of hard time.

What kind of apple pie costs $5.29?

ah3133:
Wow do you write your own material?

No ...your mom helps me...

The only pie worth jail time is hair pie...

Booya!

phlegmmo
That's what I was thinking. It's normally $3.14.

$3.14? At that price it's a steal!

One way or another, you always have to pay for pie.

If this is the way they are going to handle these types of things from now on, then when they "accidentally" overcharge me on half of the items I buy, I want the store manager arrested and jailed for theft. We should include hospitals and mechanics in addition to traditional retail establishments.

I have never taken back an item they neglected to ring up - which has happened a few times. I have never gone back for a refund when they have overcharged me - which has happened hundreds of times. I figure they are way ahead on the deal.

I like pie.

phlegmmo: That's what I was thinking. It's normally $3.14.

$2.99 here in Vegas

He will sue the store and win . Checker missed it .

/ If all the old people get pissed this store will not last long .
Remember Grandpa Simson

Definitely a Democrat...unless there was vanilla ice cream
in with the groceries..

Solid State Vittles: Mmmmm pie. I like me some pie.

would you like some turdsnot pie? (poppies)

walnuts55: He will sue the store and win . Checker missed it .

/ If all the old people get pissed this store will not last long .
Remember Grandpa Simson

Wrong. If he sues the store, Publix will probably settle. If he tried to sue the store and it went before a judge, the only way he'd "win" is in a jury trial, where the jury would feel sorry for his decrepid ass and give him a nice hedge fund.

A judge on the other hand, probably won't be as sympathetic and would probably dismiss the case. It's not the cashier's responsibility to make sure you're buying everything you want to buy, in the cart or not.

Some fine police work there, Lou.

$5.29 for a slice of pie? He had better gotten the whole thing.

/most outrageous part of the story.

Let him in there for a few days, if they want to be independent they face the consequences. It is a good sample to set before the boomers deny responsibility for everything they do in their old age.

Megain: and that's not saying he hasn't shoplifted in the past and they just didn't file a police report, just a little more information from an article brave enough to call the pie a fruity freebie

And for more perspective, that's not saying that he hasn't done this before and used this same exact excuse. If you keep shopping somewhere, keep forgetting to take things out of your cart, keep getting caught and keep claiming short-term memory loss, sooner or later, people stop feeling sorry for your problems and start thinking that you're at fault for not being more responsible for working around them. The store can't constantly keep an eye out for your presence either.

If you execute this one as an example, the elderly will stop stealing.