I went to the grocery store today for a single item. I generally take great pains to avoid single-item trips for efficiency and environmental reasons. My list-making and meal planning skills are pretty on point. However, today, I needed to buy tampons and nothing else.

And, of course, Murphy’s Law would not allow this trip to be easy. First, I went to the closest store to me and found they no longer carried my preferred brand/product at all, not a blank spot like they were sold out. I could spend $11 on a similar product I didn’t want, or leave the store and go to the next one. I am fortunate to have a second (generally preferred) store of a different corporate owner that carries different products less than a mile down the road.

So I went to the second store and found my preferred product on sale for $8. I picked up 2 boxes and headed toward the checkout area. I had gone in the secondary door, away from the grocery section, since it is always busier there. As I moved back up the aisle, I saw a TV mounted at the top with a camera videotaping me and a sign that alerts me that I’m being recorded.

My free hand immediately pops up with a middle finger pointed at the camera. It’s some sort of reflex, I swear.

This store, in particular, has undergone a very intentional security “upgrade” recently. They have employed multiple security guards at the primary exit to check receipts a la Costco and installed cameras throughout the store, especially in aisles with items that apparently get stolen a lot. The condoms can now only be purchased by asking an associate to unlock the cabinet. I’m certain that’s not what any teenager or young adult who has there wherewithal to even use these products would want to endure to get them.

And then I am reminded of MY FAVORITE article ever written on Neuroclastic… Autistic People Care Too Much The TL/DR here in this context is that neurotypical people will often do bad things for their own individual benefit in private, or if they believe they aren’t being watched.

The problem is, when the neurotypical folks are also running the corporations, they will say the only way to get people to behave better is to show them that they are absolutely being watched, openly, at all times. This is an extremely high cost solution to a known problem that WILL have adverse effects on the population and society that will likely never be measured or attributed to the choice made by the corporation to respond to increased theft with increased “professional” surveillance.

And more sadly, this is likely not a choice that can easily be rolled back without consequence. Any other solution/response may have taken a little longer to work, but would have been much healthier for society. I cannot say for certain that another solution was or wasn’t considered, but the ship has now sailed and nothing good is going to come of this escalation of the corporate surveillance state, now offline as much as it is online.

Had I been in a position of decision-making power in the room where the problem of theft (they have some sort of name for it in retail, but I don’t recall what it is), I would have DEMANDED the lowest cost solution, to the company AND to the community, be attempted for a period of time before going where they went. In this case, I would have posted signs at every entrance, and throughout the store with a clear message. People MAY be watching and that your actions have consequences to your family, your community, your local market, and all those who shop there. Make it a partnership; instill in shoppers that they have agency and responsibility. Make it clear that escalation of surveillance is a next step, but not one anyone wants, and that the good of the neighborhood is important to the corporation.

Would this work now? Absolutely not. The corporation showed their hand. They have power to spend money not on better pay or benefits for their employees/associates, not for higher quality products or lower prices. They will, however, spend exorbitant amounts of money on making sure you not only are being watched, but that you know it. And that they don’t believe you have a right to privacy or anonymity, or that there should be any place that you can not/should not feel like you are being watched, because neurotypical folks WILL CHEAT AND STEAL whenever they think they can get away with it. They have shown that they do not trust you and they don’t believe you have agency to act responsibly; they believe no other less invasive action would matter. In the end, we will never know because the cards are now on the table. They do not trust their customers; they have contempt for their customers. How can we avoid feeling the same way toward the company?

It’s a neurotypical world, but I’m NOT a neurotypical girl.

However, all this being watched, everywhere I go, is really draining and, at some point, will limit my participation in society. I know I am not alone.