My local supermarket has the security person stop the individual who sets off the anti-theft alarm at the exit, but doesn’t stop the person right behind them. No! Don’t let anyone through while the alarm is going off.
The overwhelming likelihood is that someone on the checkout forgot to disable the tag, but it’s still a method one can use to get past the alarms.
“Tampon Force Field” is the name of my trash metal Amy Winehouse tribute band
I was thinking that, but I’m not sure a 69 year old male gaijin would get away with it!
Maybe an inflatable doll…
Happened once to a mate and I. We were in and out of a number of shops in Bath and Bristol, and a few of them sounded alarms on the way out, even if we hadn’t bought anything. This got pretty tedious, so he went through everything in his pockets and courier bag. Turned out he’d bought a new wallet, and it had a security tag tucked away inside, which hadn’t been disabled when he bought it.
And yes, sneaking one out of an item, then surreptitiously dropping it into someone else’s bag then following them out of the store has occurred to me before now.
Never attempted it, though.
After seeing so many videos of US cops, I was mostly just surprised to see the cops actually explain themselves when asked and not meet anything short of instant compliance with anger and escalation.
My doctor didn’t want me to find out that one, simple secret; and I can’t believe #6!
“What is in your bag?”
“Rick Astley, playing…”
“Be on your way!!”
I know some people who worked in security, one of them even running a security company. They sure looked under the tampons. But then, being impolite was kind of a precondition on that job.
They told me about things they found.
Pantys? Check.
Condoms?
Dildos? Check.
A loaded gun? Check.
Mind, this was in Germany. Carrying is really rather rare there,
I mean, they were polite about it, but what they were asking was still bullshit. Cops should not be allowed to go around demanding random bag inspections.
I’m afraid it’s not so random. It happens much more frequently to foreigners than Japanese people. Although you can (even as a foreigner) refuse to cooperate with a bag check, foreign citizens are required to show proof of residence or a passport with a valid visa when requested by the police.
It already happened to me once, when I was travelling. But I didn’t even have time to tell the policeman that inside my big backpack were my used underwear and socks.
Yah I assumed it wasn’t really “random” per se, since she’s white. Their pretence of “people in this area are carrying dangerous things!” was obvious cop bullshit.
On Japanese mispronunciations:
Saw Sunshine-san in London the other week, highly recommended - he also plays shows on Broadway.
Had a weird issue a couple of years back. The alarms would go off in my local Sainsbury’s even though I knew I had nothing that should trigger them. One quiet afternoon at the rear tills I asked the cashier if I could run a test to figure out what was setting them off, he said sure, no problem.
Quickly narrowed it down to my wallet - which definitely didn’t have a tag. It did, however, have multiple public transit cards - Oyster (London), Suica (Japan), Opal (Sydney), Ez-Monzee (Singapore), Citypass (Seoul), Gautrain (Jo’burg’), and Presto (Toronto). Passing just the stack of cards by the gate would set it off, but passing half the stack wouldn’t. Freaky!
I think that finding those at customs should get you on a watch list; as a potential international assassin, like having multiple passports. 
Doesn’t everyone have an emergency bag by the back window, containing a few spare passports and public-transport cards and spending money in five different currencies?
Umm, me neither.
wait, Japanese people aren’t considered white? well, maybe not Canadian white 
but still inside the spectrum. OK i haven’t seen an Ainu or Ryukyu islander but am confused nonetheless.
this i know and it wasn’t my point.
