Remove those Security Tags

Situation #1: A young woman and her friends were shopping and upon leaving the store, the security alarm sounded - the subsequent interaction was embarrassing for all concerned. After many questions posed to her by the store manager, the answers to the following two questions revealed the problem: 

"Are you wearing anything that you bought recently?" Her look was blank at first followed by a red-faced positive response (she was wearing a new bra she had recently purchased at LaSenza in Canada). She was in another store at the time the alarm went off. "Did you remove the security tag from the article of clothing?" 

"What security tag?" she asked.

"There is a security tag sewn into a seam somewhere on something you are wearing and it must be removed because you may set off alarms as you did today."

Situation #2: My husband was wearing a new cashmere sweater and he visited the same shop wearing his sweater a day later. He set off the alarm. He was questioned but not searched and the security guard let him leave without too many questions since they recognized him from the day before. My husband related the experience and of course, I told him about the "bra" story. One happened in Canada; the other in France. Obviously there was no mention of security tags to either one of these people when they made their purchases.

Security Clothing Tag. Photo by JoyD.

Many people are setting off security alarms owing to the crime of not removing a security tag now being sewn into the seams of clothing. Of course the tag reads, "Please remove before wearing"; however, it is easy to not bother if you have never been in the habit of removing tags. You would think that these tags, when being de-magnetized as you are buying would stay de-magnetized. I don't know much about the intricacies of this technology but knowing human nature there will be many security alarms being set off until we become accustomed to removing these tags.

There are some sales personnel and clerks who are telling their customers about this and others of course who have not. Now you know!

So if you find yourself setting off security alarms when you go shopping, think about whether any article of clothing you are wearing and bought recently might have a security tag.