"We're Sorry, but You Have Activated Wal-Mart's Inventory Control System"

Wake up, sheep.

Yeah, I'm talking to all you poor schmucks who stop like good little herd animals when the voice of Big Brother orders you to stop on the way out of Wally World and prove that you aren't stealing anything from the store. You know whether or not you are leaving without paying for something. If you are, chances are pretty good you won't be inclined to stop. If you are not, then what on Earth makes you think you should have to so much as slow down?

I was in the Wal-Mart in Martinsburg, West Virginia, yesterday doing a bit of weekly grocery shopping. After concluding my business with the cashier I placed my bagged and paid for merchandise in the shopping cart and headed for the door. Passing through the doors, that well known voice that is audible throughout the store cried out "We're sorry, but you have activated Wal-Mart's inventory control system! Please step back and an associate will help you!"

Help me? I didn't require any help. I kept walking. A timid little voice behind me began calling out. "Sir? Excuse me, Sir? Please, stop Sir. Sir?" I kept walking. Out to my car, where I stowed my purchases and drove away.

Having paid for them, all items in the shopping cart were my private property and not subject to any one's pawing and public examination. Setting off the alarm has not "activated" the inventory control system, rather it has proven that the alleged system was not functioning properly in the first place. Stopping me and matching up the items in my shopping cart to a receipt is an invasion of my privacy, a waste of my time, and a perversion of the concept that one is innocent until proven guilty.

I do not and will not stop for these automated alarms when leaving Wal-Mart or any other retailer. On more than one occasion in the past I have been stopped, and advised that my purchases need to be checked. I politely informed the person restraining me that I did not care or feel obligated to participate and went on my way. No further action has ever been taken.

If they believe I am guilty of shoplifting fine. They are welcome to detain me, call a police officer, and have me formally placed under arrest and charged with that crime. If they intend to do that though, they better also have proof of that charge sufficient to prove my guilt. I am not required to prove my innocence - they must prove me guilty. Requiring me to show my cash register receipt and prove that everything in my possession is recorded on it is having me prove my innocence. I already know I'm innocent.

Don't accept the ridiculous notion that you need to justify yourself to a high school dropout or retiree. You don't sacrifice your rights by walking through the doors of a retailer, and you certainly don't need someone else's leave to transport your duly purchased and owned private property within or to any public place or legitimately accessible by you private place you wish. And absolutely do not fall prey to the specious notion that "it protects all of us by preventing theft and keeping prices lower". That's the same mentality that believes banning guns will keep them out of the hands of criminals as well.

Grow a pair - and then use them. If you won't take responsibility for taking care of yourself, no one else can. Giving away your rights without so much as a whimper for some nebulous greater good concept that does not actually exist is not taking care of yourself, and is not using your pair.