And even if he did use super connected connections to get his hands on a pack of cards early... that's still not necessarily illegal or worthy of sending the bloody Pinkertons after a guy.
Okay. So here's the deal.
How many of you have thought about the Pinkertons ... sorry, the
Pinkertons ... and can actually say anything about them in the last 100 years without googling them? Really? I know that someone out there does, but I am quite positive that the majority of you who are so dead set on saying BUT THE PINKERTONS have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
Quick history lesson- the Pinkertons have some cultural footprint for two main reasons. The first is because of movies and shows set in the Old West. For those who are unfamiliar with the specifics, there wasn't a whole lot of government in the Old West, so Pinkerton Agents were the people that were hired, for the most part, to protect corporate interests - protect railroads, shipments, money shipments, etc. They had a well-deserved reputation as being tough-as-nails, and, for the most part, were considered ... if not the good guys, then certainly part of the solution in terms of making that area habitable. While we do a lot of revisionist history and romanticize the outlaws now, for the most part it was the Pinkerton Agents that were allowing regular people to serve some semblance of normal life. This wasn't always a great thing- there's a reason we want the use of force to be publicly accountable, but it wasn't a bad thing for the time.
The other reason we know of them is through the labor wars of the late 19th and early 20th century. Again, this was before we had a lot of professional police forces and before we had federal police (such as the FBI). They served their corporate masters and were indisputably on the wrong side of history. But that was 100 years ago.
What are they now? Part of a larger conglomerate based out of Sweden. Yep. Sweden. Did you know that? And what do they primarily do? Risk management (like this), investigations, and protection for corporate entities.
But the idea that the Pinkertons are some sort of "big bad" is just not accurate. At all. What? Do you know someone who drives a Volkswagen or wears Hugo Boss? How about a company that is involved with Dow Chemical (or, heck, Union Carbide, a wholly owned subsidiary)? Does business with IBM? Drinks Fanta? If you use Bayer aspirin, do you ever think about IG Farben? How do you feel about eating that Chiquita Banana? Do you ever feel weird eating that Nestle candy? If you get a Ford truck, do you ponder the namesake? How about Monsanto- come for the GMOs, stay for the Agent Orange.
I hope the point is clear. If you don't like the Pinkertons (which are just part of a larger conglomerate), then you should do two things- first, remember that they are always hired to do something, so maybe consider the corporate entity that hired them instead of just defaulting to a narrative that is severely outdated. Second, at least try and use something from the
last hundred years.
Finally, as for the actual issue.
Private investigators show up at place. Demand return of products that could not possibly have been released. Products are returned. PIs provide contact number.
Company then provides free stuff for the inconvenience.
Person earns clicks.
The end.
