Woman Concerned That Her Sister's Husband Stole A TV On Black Friday, But Her Family Is Acting Like It's Fine
It's never OK to steal, no matter how chaotic a store is.
PH888 | Shutterstock Black Friday is one of the busiest, most hectic days of the year.
Stores are in complete chaos. People forget basic decency. And, apparently, sometimes they steal things —or, at least, one couple did, leaving a member of their family very confused.
A sister is concerned because her brother-in-law stole a TV on Black Friday.
“My sister and her husband Mike went to Walmart for their Black Friday sale,” the woman wrote in a Reddit post. “According to them, it was absolute chaos — hundreds of people everywhere, barely any workers, [a] total mess.”
“Mike managed to grab one of the doorbuster deals — a huge 65-inch TV that was marked down from $899 to $399,” she explained.
Dusan Petkovic | Shutterstock
Normally, this would be a great story about the amazing deal her sister and brother-in-law snagged. However, the story didn’t end there.
“Apparently the checkout lines were so insane that people just started walking out,” she continued. “Like, literally just pushing their carts through without paying because there weren’t enough workers at registers and security couldn’t handle it.”
“My sister and Mike joined them,” she said. “They walked out with a $400 TV because ‘everyone else was doing it’ and ‘the store should have been better prepared.’”
The brother-in-law and his wife were proud of their theft.
“The part that really bothers me is they were bragging about it at family dinner yesterday,” the woman admitted. “Right in front of their kids (8 and 10) and my kids (7 and 12). They were laughing about their ‘amazing deal’ like it was some funny story about outsmarting the system.”
Concerned about the example they were setting for their children, the Redditor confronted her sister about stealing.
“She got defensive saying I’m being dramatic and that big stores expect this kind of loss during sales and that it’s not really stealing because the store ‘couldn’t handle their own sale properly,’” she recounted.
“Mike jumped in saying I need to chill and I’m probably just jealous I didn’t get any ‘deals,’” the woman added. “I’m honestly disgusted by the whole thing. Later my kids were asking me if it’s OK to not pay for stuff when stores are really busy, which just proves my point about what message this sends.”
Now, her genuine concern over her sister and brother-in-law’s actions has caused a rift in the family.
“My sister hasn’t talked to me since I called her out, and my parents are saying I should apologize for ‘making drama’ and that it’s ‘none of my business,’ but someone needs to say something, right?” she questioned. “Am I seriously overreacting here? Everyone’s acting like this is just normal Black Friday behavior and I feel like I’m going crazy.”
Shoplifting on Black Friday is not uncommon.
You might assume that shoplifting would be more difficult on Black Friday. There are people everywhere, and most stores are crawling with employees (except for this Walmart, apparently). However, it turns out that this actually creates the perfectly chaotic environment needed for stealing to work.
According to attorney Sullivan Rice, “Shoplifting is one of the most common crimes committed on Black Friday. With crowds everywhere and deals flying off the shelves, it may be tempting to grab something and slip it into your bag.”
However, Rice pointed out that this is not OK, regardless of the day. “Stealing, no matter the item or the circumstance, can lead to significant legal consequences,” he wrote.
While it may be easy to rationalize that retailers are making enough money already, or that they won’t miss one measly item, stealing is never acceptable. It’s safe to say this woman is not overreacting to her sister and brother-in-law’s actions. As one commenter pointed out, "theft is theft, no matter how someone tries to justify it."
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.