Demographic Ageism….

Like most days, I made my way to work with my backpack filled with my lunch, Heidegger’s “Being and Time”,  as well as some random workbooks. I climbed my way off of the nausea inducing bus and made my way towards the grocery store which is next to my workplace.  Before I start my shift  I think about heading to the grocery store to find a little pre-work snack.  On my way through the automatic doors I notice a small black sign which advises customers to leave their backpacks at the customer service desk. I’m surprised I even noticed it. Asking why backpacks should be left to the customer service desk seems a tad redundant, but today I became curious as to why I should follow this protocol of leaving my backpack with a total stranger while I shop?  This rule is obviously not for customer convenience, it is for loss prevention.

When I was younger I used to work at a major grocery store as a bagger as well as a cashier. it was a pretty mindless job, and I had more than my fair share of training videos and worker motivation. That being said, I am quite familiar with the loss prevention strategy in a grocery store.  Statistically speaking, we were told that the most often stolen products are razor blades and black tiger shrimp. Both of these items are reasonably small and tend to be the most valuable and easy to conceal items in your standard grocery store. Razor blades can be likewise resold or stored for future use as they are nonperishable. What does this have to do with backpacks? By keeping these theft statistics in mind a question arises as to whether the people who tend to wear backpacks are the people who would also still razor blades and jumbos shrimp?  What should also be considered is the actual feasibility of stealing items and putting them in a backpack by a single individual.  The only reason why I should have to remove my backpack is because someone thinks would steal something from the store and put it inside. This becomes a problem not necessarily with backpacks, but a problem with people. Obviously something as large as a backpack is not needed in order to steal jumbo shrimp and razor blades as a purse or handbag would easily suffice. Yet where is the sign saying please check your purse or handbag at your nearest customer service desk. If such a sign existed I am sure that store would lose quite amount of business. In order for a backpack to be a functional tool for stealing items there would need to be two people.  One person would be the wearer of the backpack, and the other person would be person putting things in the backpack.  Yet having two people stealing these items makes crime a little more noticeable.  Using a purse or a handbag on the other hand only requires one person, the thief. It is obvious that the more versatile bag for stealing the most commonly stolen items is not the backpack. If this is the practical case, then why is there a sign at the front of the door asking me to leave my backpack at the customer service desk?  The question turns away from loss prevention and towards the idea of mistrust.  The people who are most likely to wear backpacks are those under the age of 25, mainly high school and college kids, precisely those who would steal… right?  Except for, as we have just explained that the most commonly stolen items are razor blades and black tiger shrimp.  Hardly useful items for your average backpack wearer.   How many kids do you see on the street corner trying to sell you really cheap shrimp?

What seems to be occurring is the common discrimination of ageism. This is a category of discrimination that is often overlooked, mostly because the people who are doing the discrimination are those who tend to have the most power. For those who aren’t familiar with the term ageism,  it is a form of discrimination which commonly understood as “stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age.”   Normally I wouldn’t think of ageism as this big of a deal as even I myself am guilty of sometimes misjudging younger people. Also, discrimination happens all too often to groups which have a much stronger argument of oppression than whether or not they should have to leave their backpack at the customer courtesy desk.  This isn’t an argument about backpacks and shrimp, it is about control and forcibly removing ones rights. In this case, I refuse to submit my right to carry items to an asinine rule, which inappropriately attempts to remove this right.  By submitting my backpack to the customer courtesy desk I further the normative belief that criminality is mostly age-related.  While a certain demographic does produce a higher amount of criminals than others our grocery store example shows that this is not a demographic only of age.  So as I make my way to the snack isle I do so with my backpack on, and if any of you ridiculous cashiers attempt to tell me that I need to leave my backpack at the customer service desk you will receive a stern reply. The only way in which I will remove my backpack is if you remove every purse, handbag, and concealable compartments from every one of your customers.  I refuse to submit to your stupid rule…now give me my Twinkie.