A couple months ago, I ran out of tampons late at night. The only place open was a QuikTrip (gas station/convenience store), but I couldn’t find any tampons or pads when I looked. I asked the guy at the counter, who showed me where they were in the back of the store, next to the diapers and toilet paper.
As he was ringing me up, I said something like, “That’s so random, usually I feel like places stock them near the deodorants/personal hygiene items or the condoms and ‘male enhancement pills.’”
The clerk nodded and said, “Yeah, that’s because of theft.”
He pointed at the clearly visible deodorant and condom displays. “That kind of stuff is nice to have,” he said. “But tampons, diapers, and toilet paper? That’s ‘need-to-have’ stuff.”
And then he gave me a significant look and pointed towards the back shelf — which was out of the cashier’s line of sight. “So we stock it in a very specific place.”
I doubt this was store policy — my guess is that this guy and his coworkers were just mensches. But they fucking ruled.