ATTALLA, Ala. - Shoppers entering the Wal-Mart Supercenter here got a reminder not to try anything funny: Two shoplifters stood outside with signs reading “I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart.”

Attalla City Judge Kenneth Robertson Jr. ordered the two people to wear the signs for four hours each during two successive Saturdays.

“The only comments we’ve heard so far have been positive,” said store manager Neil Hawkins. “Most of them thought it was a good thing.”

One of the shoplifters, Lisa King Fithian, 46, wore the sign from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to avoid a 60-day jail sentence. Another convicted shoplifter was at the store from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Fithian maintained her innocence. She said her conviction was based on a misunderstanding: She said she was taking a $7 item to the service desk because it would not scan.

Outside the store, she said people who saw her wearing the sandwich board commented that the punishment was “cruel.”

Hawkins noted how embarrassing it would be for the public to see someone who got caught shoplifting. “Maybe they’ll think twice about doing it,” he said.

They have a good idea here but need to expand on it. I want to see people out front wearing signs like "I was the asshole ahead of you in line who paid for a three pack of socks with pennies", "I was the numbnuts ahead of you in line that had $600 worth of shit in my shopping cart whose check wouldn't clear electronically" and "I'm the lazyass who stuck the TV dinner in the pop cooler by the checkout because I decided I didn't want it and it took too much physical effort to walk the extra 30 thirty steps to put it back where I got it, besides a person of my stature doesn't have that extra 45 seconds of time to waste".

That story sounds like something youd' see on Police Squad. Do the local cops wear signs ID'ing them as police?

Next thing you know, dumb whores will be inking their names into their bottom lips in case they get lost or something.

I did a tour of duty in retail once.