Reveling in my backyard of convenience, I head into Walmart to get a much needed economy sized bag of tube socks for two dollars. Two dollars is a small price to pay for 347 pairs of socks; you know, unless you factor in the dwindling number of folksy small towns I'll be able to visit as I head across the country.
As I'm leaving, I notice the Walmart "greeter" yelling after a man who has just rushed out of the store. She seems adamant about getting the man's attention, so I run after him.
"Excuse me, Sir!" I motion after the small slinking man 200 feet ahead of me. "Sir!"
He looks back.
"Sir, that woman was trying to get a hold of you."
He hunches over, glancing down at the bag concealed in his hand , then up at me. We lock eyes.
"Oh!" I yell out stupidly. "You stole that, didn't you?"
The man stammers an incoherent excuse and turns to run, but I do not chase.
I think about chasing after him. My instinct is to chase after him. As a large man with a limited experience with suffering, I have an unhealthy "invincibility complex" shared by many people my age. My safety is not a concern and does not factor into my decision not to chase him.
Rather, I find myself torn on who's side to take. The man is stealing, which I see as a clear violation of the "social contract" and as such a moral wrong. But he has put no one in danger with his act of thievery. He has not stolen from an individual, nor from any entity that would suffer from his actions. Walmart factors thefts such as these into their budget.
Does that make it okay to steal from big corporations? I would argue no, but would certainly concede that it is on a different level of wrong than say, stealing a purse from an old woman. Should I turn the man in, he likely would face punishment, and if he's desperate enough to steal, who am I to make his life any worse when nobody got hurt?
In that moment, I decide to let the man go unabated. I do not regret the decision.
Talking to some friends, it seems I may be in the minority in my opinion, so I am interested to hear some more thoughts.
Should I have made myself Robin Hood in reverse?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
The money lost from the theft, and the money spent on tying to prevent the theft have to come from somewhere. And I assure you it's not the Waltons who are suffering for it. Rather, prices are marginally higher. Like most economic forces that cause marginal changes to price, it's hard for any one individual to notice or act in response. You'll never be aware of the few-cent increase in goods at Walmart, but in the aggregate a lot has been lost. I'd note that the same principle exists with trade protectionism and subsidies.
For all of Walmart's many sins, don't forget that it's done something truly amazing, and that's to provide goods--especially fresh food-- cheaper to the less wealthy.
There is of course the larger social damage from ignoring theft. A society that ignores crime because that crime only harms some faceless, abstract concept like the customer, or the shareholders, is a society that is defining deviancy down.
You made me think. That's what I like in your blog.
Crime against property, crime against person. Which is worse? We all know what happens to those caught in the act while attempting to commit crime against property. The person may be severely beaten and humiliated in public, in a clear, deliberate violation of any human right, because "an example must be set". Good example? I certainly have my doubts.
You want to reach the meaning of life by traveling. Life is just beginning to place questions before you. Theft is just one. But there are too many of them.
If the meaning of life is findable at all, I hope you succeed in finding it yourself. In case you fail to find it as such, at least the final balance is supposed to come to your credit.
I decided to read your posts on, to follow you through your blog, joining you this way in your fascinating adventure. I'll do that, if you do not expressly object to my doing so.
Speaking as someone who has stopped a shoplifter, it is a pretty stupid thing to do when it is nothing more than a petty theft. Oh sure, it was the right thing to do, but the guy I stopped could have just as easily stabbed me with a knife or shot me in the face. Do the ends justify the means? In this situation, the risk of personal harm far outweighs the worth of some off brand pair of jeans.
Lillie says
Keep your face I kinda like it!
Miss you!
Post a Comment