Reading this thread and all the replies wondering why she shouldn’t have to wait in line to get approved to exit the store make me think of lines of people, all dressed alike, holding one hand on the shoulder of the person ahead of them and walking slowly, in lock-step toward some unidentifiable destination.
Wake up folks! Snap out of it! She paid her money for the goods she purchased. It isn’t her responsibility to see to it that store-security is upheld. What would happen if they thought she had shoplifted a tampon?
Several years ago, when I was still in my sixties, I had the audacity to enter a Walmart through the “exit” door. The guy posted there to check receipts yelled at me and grabbed my arm. I surprised him (and myself) by reversing his hold and putting him in a hammer-lock. I let him go and continued my shopping. When I left the store he wasn’t at that post anymore.
I’m not a member of Costco so I don’t know what has to be agreed to to become a member but any person who forcibly lays their hands on another is risking an assault charge.
You are conjuring up a scene that really doesn’t exist. Costco is a membership warehouse. Members pay annually to belong and they know - or should - how it operates. No one forced the woman to join or to shop there.
At Costco members buy in bulk and pay about half the amount you’d pay in a retail shop. The prices are low for a number of reasons (wholesale buying, putting house brand name on brand-name products, no frills at all ... it is literally a warehouse). Part of the membership agreement is that you might be required to wait an entire minute or two to have your receipt checked against your purchases. It is no big deal. She paid to belong; she’d been there recently or would not have been making a return. She knows the deal, but deemed herself too important to do what everyone else who belongs and shops there does.
Since my family has grown, I no longer belong, but that membership was worth its weight in gold when we were raising kids. In particular, one of our children required an Rx that was $64 for a week’s supply at CVS; Costco charged $13 for the same Rx. Maybe this lady would prefer to exercise the CVS option and not waste that two minutes of her precious time waiting in line at Costco.
She agreed to a receipt check when she paid her membership. She is the one in the wrong.