# Liberating items from a shopping trolley **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836 "2015-02-16T17:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/21 "2015-02-16T21:30:07Z")
I would think that this scenario could be considered either [“disturbing the peace”](http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/disturbing-the-peace.html) or [“disorderly conduct.”](http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/disorderly-conduct.html) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/22 "2015-02-16T21:30:25Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Interesting, that it takes a German (or German speaker) to understand my German sense of humour… 😃 Do the other Germans here agree that committing an act that is somewhere between dickish and criminal is _humorous_? > [@](#): > > Under German law, you have sovereignty over your shopping cart and are allowed to defend it and retrieve any items that someone else took from it. In the US, your angered victim may well be carrying a firearm. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/23 "2015-02-16T22:31:25Z")
For all of you objecting to the “more deserving” term: Whhhooshhhh! ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/24 "2015-02-16T22:47:00Z")
I’m frequently reminded that the average age of the SDMB is “coot.” ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/25 "2015-02-16T23:05:57Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Under German law, you have sovereignty over your shopping cart and are allowed to defend it . When\* I’m\* in Tesco’s I often wish to crack a whip brandishingly and scowl: “_Back, **Back** You Dogs !_”, glaring at the _canaille_. Still more so than elsewhere. Most supermarkets have the charm of morgues. Tesco more so than others. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Do the other Germans here agree that committing an act that is somewhere between dickish and criminal is _humorous_? As, to misquote Lord Haldane, a ‘_spiritual German_’, I think describing it drolly is. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/26 "2015-02-16T23:28:57Z")
> [@Uniqueorn](#): > > Interesting, that it takes a German (or German speaker) to understand my German sense of humour… 😃 I’m going to need a cite for the idea that Germans have a sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/27 "2015-02-17T00:57:43Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Isn’t it fairly obvious that the OP was describing this little “incident” jokingly and also in a self-deprecating manner? 😕 no it wasn’t. First rule of comedy is “know your audience.” ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/28 "2015-02-17T01:19:48Z")
Okay, now I’m going crazy. I’m SURE I read an article around Black Friday 2014 where the author asked legal experts about the status of taking an item from someone’s shopping cart, but I can’t find it for the life of me. I thought it was on Slate, but who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/29 "2015-02-17T01:21:09Z")
If someone “liberated” an item from your shopping cart, could you get away with pulling out a gun and shooting him while claiming self-defense? Outside of Texas, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/30 "2015-02-17T01:22:21Z")
While probably not against the law, you would be stealing the other person’s time. They took the time to locate the item and put it into their trolley. As the item was the last of its type in the store, if the person really needs it they are now required to go to a different store. Even if it had not been the last, they would still need to retrace their steps to get another one. Not exactly a capital crime, but it would certainly be a dick move. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/31 "2015-02-17T01:24:18Z")
No idea about the legality, but anyone who took the “far more deserving” bit seriously after also reading the “lawful good” bit can’t really criticise anyone else’s sense of humour… A pure guess here, but I’d imagine that the item in question belongs to the store, so their representative would have the right to decide who, if anyone, gets to purchase it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/32 "2015-02-17T01:27:38Z")
This is an old George Carlin routine - “It’s not yours YET”. I have had people take the whole cart before by accident, and an empty cart when I’m shopping and have not put anything in it yet and walk away for a second. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/33 "2015-02-17T02:16:46Z")
> [@rsa](#): > > I would think that this scenario could be considered either [“disturbing the peace”](http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/disturbing-the-peace.html) or [“disorderly conduct.”](http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/disorderly-conduct.html) It looks like disturbing the peace is a subset of disorderly conduct. The purpose of the “disturbing the peace” crime as stated in my link seems to fit very well. > [@](#): > > Disturbing the peace is a law against public disorder and chaos. Laws against disorderly conduct, such as disturbing the peace, exist to prevent people from disturbing the peace of others while they are tending to their daily business and personal affairs. I certainly think that purloining someone’s groceries would tend to lead to “disorder and chaos” and would definitely disturb my peace if I were the purloinee while tending to my “personal affairs” of shopping. [I believe “disturbing the peace” is called “breaching the peace” in the U.K.] ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/34 "2015-02-17T04:11:58Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > If you’re “liberating items” when you take them out of his cart, what’s it called when you put them into yours? Deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/35 "2015-02-17T04:21:28Z")
I’ll refrain from hypothetical moral judgements, but I will note that if such an incident were to happen, and if it were to lead to a dramatic confrontation between the shoppers, and if I were to witness all this, I would find it . . . . . . entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/36 "2015-02-17T08:58:33Z")
In the UK at least, the supermarket owns the goods until a contract to purchase has been made between two parties and the contract has been fulfilled. Up until that point the supermarket has total control over the item, able to decide totally freely how to dispose of the it, choosing one or the other, choosing neither, or even auctioning it between the two people. If the disagreement between the two people became heated, either or both could be charged with a public order offence. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/37 "2015-02-17T13:25:21Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The SO was buying something-or-other at Wal-Mart. Whatever it was, it was heavy and far away when she got in line at the pharmacy. Rather than take up a bunch of room with the cart in the line, she parked the cart nearby. While she was there, someone took her cart and her heavy, far-away thing. She was speechless. I take my mother to the commissary at the local Air Force base occasionally. They have signs to put on your cart that read “Still shopping”. You’re supposed to write in the time that you left the cart, but I’ve never seen anyone do it. > [@Steophan](#): > > A pure guess here, but I’d imagine that the item in question belongs to the store, so their representative would have the right to decide who, if anyone, gets to purchase it. There’s always the Solomonic solution. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/38 "2015-02-17T13:28:27Z")
There was a comedian who advocated, for men, to speed up their shopping, and be certain to get the best produce, (while lacking all knowledge of how to select such), simply wait till some woman turns away and liberate their produce items from their cart! The reasoning being, he’d watch a woman spend 10 mins choosing a tomato, and decided that’s the kind of knowledge you must be born with! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/39 "2015-02-17T14:53:17Z")
It’s not a crime. There is no conversion - since the “victim” is not the owner. If you took it out of somebody’s _hands_, it would probably be a battery. > [@rsa](#): > > It looks like disturbing the peace is a subset of disorderly conduct. These are both names for catchall laws described by statutes tend to vary quite widely between jurisdictions. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836/40 "2015-02-17T16:28:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The SO was buying something-or-other at Wal-Mart. Whatever it was, it was heavy and far away when she got in line at the pharmacy. Rather than take up a bunch of room with the cart in the line, she parked the cart nearby. While she was there, someone took her cart and her heavy, far-away thing. She was speechless. I work in a grocery store. You’d be surprised how often a customer simply walks off with the wrong cart, continues their shopping, and doesn’t realize until much later that there’s a whole bunch of stuff in “their” cart that they didn’t put them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberating-items-from-a-shopping-trolley/712836.md?page=3)