Frazzled Mom Banned From Grocery Store for 'Stealing' Milk

on August 8, 2011 at 5:40 PM

fairway grocery store A New York woman has been banned from her local supermarket for shoplifting a half-gallon of milk and a six-pack of beer. Elissa Drassinower, 33, was grocery shopping at her local Fairway with her toddler son when her hand basket got too heavy and she decided to put the milk and beer under the stroller. When it came time to check out, she paid for her other groceries, but forgot about the items in the stroller, then walked out the door.

Next thing she knows, she's approached by security guards with photos and forms, telling her she is hereby banned from ever returning to the store. Banished for life, they say!

Drassinower tried explaining that it was an honest mistake, that when her boy got fussy in the checkout line, she got distracted and forgot to put the milk and beer on the conveyor belt, but security was having none of it. The stay-at-home mom insisted she wasn't shoplifting on purpose, and explained to the NY Post:

My hand basket was getting so heavy, my arm was turning red. So I put the milk and a six-pack of Corona under the stroller. When I was checking out, my son, who was really cranky, started acting up, and I forgot to pay for the milk and the beer ... The security guard took my photograph, told me I was banned from Fairway for life and said I was lucky she didn't call the police. I was crying, my 20-month-old son was crying. It was humiliating.

Yikes. Being banned for life is so intense, and so Shakespearean. I have no idea if Drassinower, who does not have a criminal record, was trying to steal or not, but I'll just go ahead and hope and assume it was an accident. Apparently this is a move that moms with strollers do, that there are weirdos out there who actually get a rush from stealing groceries, but I hope Drassinower isn't one of them. It's probably the perfect crime because it seems so damn plausible, so if she is one of the bad girls getting a buzz from stealing beer, her banishment sounds appropriate.

Unfortunately we may never know the truth, but one thing's for sure, Drassinower will not be going back to that Fairway to pick up anything any time soon. And by "any time soon," I mean never again in her lifetime.

Have you ever shoplifted accidentally? Do you think her banishment is too harsh?

Photo via Paul Albertrella/Flickr

About the author Lindsay Mannering

is a blogger, a pub quiz connoisseur, and a spicy food athlete.

Filed Under: accidents, crime

Comments (55)

LoriAnn87

on Aug 8, 2011 at 5:45 PM

That is just nuts to banish her from the store he should have given her the chance to go back and pay for the stuff. I accidentally forget to pay for something because I had put in the basket under my son's stroller but it was an unmistake and I think many of moms have done this before.

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Facebook comment from Ashleigh Munson

on Aug 8, 2011 at 5:46 PM

I've done the exact same thing!! Stuck something that I couldn't carry beneath the stroller, and totally forgot about it, since I'm never in the store with my stroller.

jenny08_1015

on Aug 8, 2011 at 5:50 PM

I have never seen someone take a stroller in a store before. If you know you're going to get more than an armful of groceries just put the child and the groceries in a cart because that's exactly what it's there for.

billsfan1104

on Aug 8, 2011 at 5:54 PM

I think the banishment is too much. I have left things in the bottom of my cart and forgot to bring them up, but I always took it back and paid for them. It has happened only once, thank God. I wonder if she would of came back and paid for them.

kecutah

on Aug 8, 2011 at 5:56 PM

I've put things under my stroller before out of convenience and could totally see how it could happen.

Nonmember comment from Stacey

on Aug 8, 2011 at 6:07 PM

WELL, she IS lucky they didn't call the police. Imagine if it was a 20 something w/ no children that had put the milk and beer on the bottom of a shopping cart an "forgot" about it. You can bet the police would have been called. While I do understand how it could have happened, the "frazzled mom" card is played too often. If she was so distracted that she couldnt remember to buy her items, how do we know she isn't too distracted to drive home safely?

jagamama0710

on Aug 8, 2011 at 6:17 PM

" If she was so distracted that she couldnt remember to buy her items, how do we know she isn't too distracted to drive home safely?"

Wtf? ^^ That's a bit of a leap...

hallieballie

on Aug 8, 2011 at 6:22 PM

I think they should have given her the chance to pay for the goods, I'm sure she would have. Mistakes like that just happen. One of my daughters grabbed a chap stick when I wasn't noticing and since it was so small I never noticed she had it until we got to the car, I was so embarrassed but I went back in and paid for the 99 cent chap stick.

mummajenni

on Aug 8, 2011 at 6:37 PM

The banishment is absurd, and so is not allowing her to fix her mistake and just pay for the items.

mountainmommy37

on Aug 8, 2011 at 6:46 PM

I forgot 2 cases of sparkly water on the bottom of my cart the other day. Totally embarrassing, but I did pay for them and was not banned from my store!! Totally overreacting, unless there is more to this story than we know.