What would you have done?

Today I was shopping at one of my least favorite stores, which I happen to frequent more often than I prefer. When you live in the boonies like I do, you don’t have many choices. My once young children called it the “Blue Store”.

I was heading near the pharmacy department to pick up some hydrogen peroxide. A woman older than me was in front of me with a cart. She turned into the same aisle I heading.

As she turned the corner, her right arm snapped away from her body, and she quickly grabbed a package of Claritin from the end cap display. As quick as her arm went out, it snapped back to her side. I knew what she did. So I came up beside her. She very nervously said something to me. It wasn’t audible. Her nervousness though was a blinkin’ beacon. With both hands on the cart, there was no Claritin to be seen anywhere. And I know she knew, that I knew, what she did.

Maybe I should have said something like, “I can’t use Claritin as it upsets my stomach.” Or, maybe, “My allergies are bad this year. You reminded me that I need to grab some Claritin too.” Maybe I should have just told her that I saw what she did and to put it back before I report her.

Next time maybe I’ll be brave enough to try that approach. But today I found an employee passing by and I told him. He said he’d get a manager. Whether he did or not, I do not know. But at least I reported it.

Stealing has a direct effect on the cost of everything. I’d say it’s the oldest profession out there but I think that spot is taken. I guess it would be the second oldest profession.

What would you have done? Just let it go? If you are that financially broken (which many are nowadays) let’s go about it in the right way. Tens of thousands are taking advantage of a broken system that they don’t actually need. So I’m sure she would qualify. By the way, she snatched up that item quickly and hid it in the blink of an eye…clearly, this wasn’t her first rodeo.