The Legality of Retail Stores Demanding to See a Purchase Receipt

It is illegal for a private company (e.g. Walmart etc.) to demand to see a customers receipt at the point of leaving the premises (e.g. Walmart greeter demanding to see customer receipt as they leave the store) however the private corporation does have the legal authority to detain a customer due to “shopkeeper’s/merchant’s privilege” as long as reasonable suspicion has been met (e.g. customer refusing to show a receipt while leaving with product in hand etc.). Reasonable suspicion deems that the retailer must have a reasonable belief, based upon specific facts, evidence, and circumstances, that the customer has committed theft. For this reason, randomly selecting customers (e.g. customer with no product in hand leaving the store etc.) to show a receipt without any suspicion is problematic. Membership retail establishments (e.g. Costco or Sam’s Club etc.) can demand to see proof of membership as well as proof of receipt because when members sign up they agree to specific terms and conditions. Refusal to comply with store policy may result in consequences, up to and including being denied future entry and/or membership termination

Hugh Everett’s “Many World’s” Theory

Hugh Everett designed the Many World’s Theory which states that if in the first world a particle is found on the left side, in the second world that same particle is found on the right side, with both findings being equally valid. Everett’s main conclusion was that when a particle splits in 2 to act as a wave, the universe also splits into 2 pieces, only going through 1 of the 2 available slits, but doing so in separate universes. The Many World’s theory is now generally accepted as fact by most physicists, however Everett died before receiving the recognition he deserved for his work. Everett’s theory was treated with a frosty reception when it was first released, as most scientists considered such a theory to be science fiction and speculation rather than proper observed and analyzed fact