Bangladesh Fruit Vendor's Killer Jugaad To Prevent Grape Theft Deserves A Moment Of Its Own

Shopkeepers often have a hard time preventing shoplifting. Sometimes they employ security guards and CCTV cameras, but many street-side vendors do not have such resources. This forces them to take matters into their own hands. Now, a video that shows a fruit seller protecting his grapes from “snatchers” in a scary way is going viral. The undated video shows a stall set up very close to the railway track. It is so close that one can perhaps easily reach out to the fruits that are hanging from the fruit shop near the tracks.

Just as the train passes by the fruit stand, the shopkeeper stands guard with a long knife, seemingly threatening the shoplifters with violence, if they attempt to snatch the hanging grapes. Another man next to this knife-holding shop vendor can be seen holding a stick, perhaps also standing guard to prevent theft from his shop.

This video, reportedly taken in Bangladesh, was posted on Reddit on May 18. Commenting on it, many people lauded the shopkeeper for working hard to protect his goods. A Reddit user wrote, “It’s peak comedy and psychology! Idk how many noticed it but he is holding the knife backwards or as some say it’s on the blunt side. Pretty smart move without any risk!”

Another person observed, “The fact that it even got to the point he needed to do this is ridiculous.” Someone else joked, “It’s like he’s threatening the train. Lol.” A user also remarked, “Peak comedy would have been someone stealing his knife, then as he is yelling at them, someone else stealing the grapes.”

An individual explained, “To people who are asking why he can’t just move the grapes back: 1) The grapes would smack against his head every time he stands up on his stall. 2) The grapes will be out of the customer’s reach who would actually wanna check them up close to see if they are fresh. 3) Some of the shoplifters from the train will still try to grab the grapes with a makeshift hook stick or something like that. You have no idea what extent people go to in this country just to get some free stuff, even if they can comfortably afford them.”

The above-mentioned video shows how informal workers often have to go out of their way to protect their goods, as they are forced to work in a hostile environment.