Left Behind
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 9:12 PM
At the end of a quick but mildly frustrating trip to Target this morning, I got to the car to discover an item had been left on the bottom of the cart.
The bleach that I tucked away while Henry and I were shopping went unnoticed by me or the clerk, and I unwittingly walked out of the store without paying for this $1.67 item.
I mention the price because as I stood there and stared with dismay at the bleach, I wondered what to do. Was it worth walking back into the store? While bleach was indeed on my list, the thought of hauling my tired self (in the chilly rain, I might add) with a toddler who was DONE shopping—that just seemed ridiculous.
However, the idea of bringing home this item without paying for it seemed even worse. As I explained to my husband later on, the thought of staining my soul with sin over $1.67 hardly seemed worth it. Not that I’d steal an item only if it’s expensive; it’s just, I knew I would feel bad if I took something without paying and the guilt wasn’t worth the effort it would take to convince myself it just wasn’t a big deal.
The truth is I did not *mean* to take the bleach without paying—it was not intentional. But somehow, I couldn’t use that line of reasoning to take it home with me.
What would you have done? I’ll leave my answer in the comments tomorrow.
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