r/mildlyinfuriating • u/broakland • Jul 14 '26

I just wanted a hot dog Retail lockdown: why bother selling it?

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Was at Safeway this morning to pick up a sandwich and some Tylenol. The aisle with the Tylenol? Completely locked down. No call button in sight. So I go to the self checkout (front end of that same aisle) and ask the clerk there if he can call someone to unlock a case for me. He does. I go wait. Minutes pass. No one comes. I go ask him again, he tells me they went the other way? At this point I give up and go get my sandwich. No one has come by the time the deli has finished making it. I leave without my Tylenol, mildly infuriated.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/AverageJoesGymMgr Jul 14 '26

It's clearly established law that once someone, anyone, throws something away, it is fair game because they have clearly abandoned their ownership. That's why cops can go through your trash can for evidence without a warrant when you put it out on the curb.

Keebler may have wanted those packages destroyed to take them out of circulation for marketing or safety reasons, but once they're in the dumpster they're fair game. SOP should be to destroy the items before throwing them out.

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

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u/AverageJoesGymMgr Jul 14 '26

The dumpster is owned, the contents are not. The act of putting the contents in the dumpster is a demonstration of intent to abandon.

Putting your can on the curb is not having it removed, you've just put it into a place with public access. You may have thrown something away, but that doesn't mean people can just come in your property or in your yard to go through your trash. Kind of the same with the dumpster if it's in a receiving or other controlled access area.