NARP - The Ghetto Grocery Store.

I live in the ghetto, the inner city, the 'hood. Never a dull moment around here what with shootings and crack deals and the lovely hookers and barking pitbulls.
OK, so the local grocery store (affectionately known as the Ghetto Kroger) is kind of nasty, and I don't often stop there. The produce looks sad, there's whole aisles just for uber-generic canned goods and the store just isn't as shiny and clean as other Krogers. Twice I've bought half and half that despite being well within the "sell by" date, was rancid - maybe they cut costs by keeping the fridge temps a bit higher.
There's no deli or fresh bakery, no make-up or frippery-type items (they get pocketed too easily.) The wine and beer is kept in a locked cage. There is a security guard by the registers at all times.
You probably won't find fresh broccoli, but there's an entire aisle of cola type drinks, and this evening they had a whole display for Pimpjuice (I am Not Making This Up.)
Fat young women with black eyes and bruised legs yell swear words at broods of children, crack-skinny biker types and obese people in dirty spandex leggings or greasy jeans hobble through the store leaning heavy on the carts, nervous senior citizens clutch their purses and regular working folks shop; people aren't friendly around here. They're suspicious and self-protective. This is a far cry from the upscale suburban Kroger just a couple of miles away!
Anyhow, tonight I stopped in for a couple of staples. The lines are usually slow - understaffed registers and frequent issues with people overloading their Bridge cards. I amused myself reading about Angelina's new bump and who really killed Jon Benet while waiting for the mumbly guy ahead of me to finish up. As he went through the door into the parking lot, there was a brief and loud altercation between him & the security guard. Then the guard came back in, shrugged and said "He got the charcoal."
Turns out, Kroger employees are not allowed to stop shoplifters once they've gone through the door, for fear a shoplifter might get hurt somehow and sue the store. So, if someone makes it as far as the door, they get to keep whatever they lifted. This guy was apparently a repeat offender - he buys a few things, then snatches one of the big sacks of charcoal right by the exit doors and leaves.
I asked how often this happens - the cashier, the security guard and a manager all said - about every other person leaves the store with something they didn't pay for, but once they get to the doors, they are home free.
The employees also cannot deny even a known chronic shoplifter access to the store, in case they get sued for discrimination. (For what it's worth, this particular individual was a white guy.)
I have to assume this is common throughout the country. I guess who one gets angry at - shoplifters, welfare grifters, Kroger corporate policy, Republicans, Democrats, lawyers - depends on one's personal world view.