Working behind a Waitrose delicatessen counter, having huge cuts of cooked meats in front of you with a per-gram value approaching that of some class-A drugs, cutting a bit off and sneaking it into your apron pocket was something the more rebellious among the staff did on the sly. Justified by the fact that it would be destined for the rubbish bin anyway. A turn in the colour would see the fickle customers turn up their toffee noses and the meat would become unsellable.
There was a particularly arrogant new starter, only 17 and thinking he owned the place. A smooth talker and a good salesman, and also a serial thief. As soon as he learned of this open secret he took it as an invitation to swipe sizable chunks of salami on a regular basis. The last straw was when he was working behind the raw meat counter. He cut off a third of a chunk of fillet steak and stashed it away, not even trying to hide what he was doing, in fact bragging about it.
This was too much, he crossed the line. I hinted to the manager that someone was stealing from the counter. He arranged for searches that evening and caught him cold. He was never seen at the store again.
