Last week, during one of those rambling, no-topic phone conversations that I’m such a fan of, I mentioned that I had never received payment for some merchandise that I had sold. Yes, I understand that “sold” implies some sort of exchange of currency, but that was indeed the intent. I don’t know how these things come up in conversation, they just do. When asked why I hadn’t pursued payment more aggressively, I responded that, given the circumstances, the buyer must have really needed the items. My friend was having none of that. “I need lots of things, but that doesn’t mean I just steal them!” Thus began a short but charged discourse on the definition of necessity and its justification for stealing. Or something like that.
Normally, I wouldn’t relate pointless phone conversations, but something happened yesterday that brought this one to mind. I was picking up a few items in my favorite store (one of the joys of working from home is the mid-day, mid-week run to the store). As I sauntered down the aisle, something caught my eye: a 12-pack of store-brand toilet paper had been opened, and one roll was missing. I couldn’t help but laugh as I thought of the conditions that sometimes justify stealing.
1 comment:
Of course I was having none of the stealing of your items that you had "sold". However, toilet paper is a necessity and if there is a person out there that needs toilet paper and doesn't have the funds to pay for it, I'm all for theft in that particular case. Although I'm not sure why a person would steal store brand instead of Cottonelle.
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