You go to a store, and realize that the item you need is located on the top shelf. You stretch to reach it, but it is much higher than you are able to reach. You step on the bottom shelf, but you can barely touch the item with your fingertips. You can go look for a sales associate to help you, or you can use the ladder that is located nearby. To save time, many customers choose to use the ladder. Just when they are perched up high, removing the item from the shelf, a store associate walks by and stops, glaring at you as though you had just shoplifted. Maybe there are store policies that prohibit customers from using ladders in the store. Maybe store owners fear that customers may fall and injure themselves. Or maybe store associates just don’t want to share.