FOOD FOR THOUGHT

# SMED 11

I Recently read an article which was published in Auckland, New Zealand, which related to the doors of a shopping centre which had malfunctioned one evening and how some shoppers mistakenly entered the shop (with no staff in sight) and:

1. Some did their shopping and paid for the goods at a self service check-out point;
2. Some walked around the aisles and left the shop when they realised that
something was amiss;
3. Some did their shopping and exited without paying for their goods.

Following media coverage of the incident, 50% of the category 3 shoppers returned to pay for their goods. What peeked my interest in the article was the psychologist being interviewed on her thoughts relating to human behaviour in instances described above. She indicated that in most cases people would generally own up. She further mentioned that where she came from (ex-South African who resided in the Western Cape), she believes that the shop would have suffered major losses, possibly been cleared out.

My initial reaction was disgust, thinking it was another expat , having nothing positive to say about their previous homeland. On second thoughts I had to remind myself that on visiting the same shop during a family visit in 2009, I too mentioned that such a self-service would never work in the Western Cape.

I have subsequently shared the story with a number of colleagues, family and friends and on every occasion I received a 100% response: “If the same shopping incident played out at a Shopping Mall in the Western Cape, the shop would have been cleared out!”

Aside from the article providing for interactive office, dinner and party discussions, most importantly, it begs a few questions relating to crime and theft in the Western Cape:

- Why do people have such negative perceptions relating to theft, values, respect,
etc?

- What are the contributing factors?

- What needs to be done to improve our image?

- What is the impact on the tourism industry?


MAKES ONE THINK - I BELIEVE ‘FOOD FOR THOUGHT’ INDEED!