Bookstore Bandit

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with my friend Grace. (I’ve mentioned her on this blog before; she had a bad car accident a few months ago and still can’t walk or drive.) She was feeling a little cooped up at home, so we went to her favorite bookstore and then out for lunch.

While we were at the bookstore, I picked up a paperback I was considering adding to my collection. As I was glancing at it, I found several gift receipts tucked between the pages. Apparently this book and several others had been returned to the store recently and the clerk inadvertently left the receipts inside. I turned to my friend to show her what I found and remarked that a less honest person than myself could walk up to the cashier right now and return a book they had not purchased. Grace asked to see the receipts, which I handed to, and then I continued with my book browsing.

A moment later I turned to find her stuffing paperback books into her oversized purse. The dishonest idea that occurred to me, which I would not do, was materializing before my very eyes! She then proceeded to scour the bookstore for the titles on the gift receipts which she added to her now bulging purse. I kept my distance and continued to browse and make my purchases.

As we left the store and headed back to the car to go out for lunch, we had this exchange:

Grace: I hope you don’t think less of me because of what just happened.
Me: It was my idea. I just wouldn’t actually do it. It’s not worth it.
Grace: It was worth it for me. I just don’t want you to think less of me.
Me: Don’t worry about it.

She then went on to justify her actions by saying she purchased more books than she would have because she had the extra credit from the “returns”. Obviously she felt guilty about what she did, but I wasn’t going to lecture her about it or offer her absolution.

This experience makes me wonder if she is worthy of my trust in other areas of our relationship. I am trying not to judge her too harshly as she has recently been through the trauma of an accident, several surgeries, and has been basically house-bound since the accident. She has medical bills and legal fees piling up and is still unable to work. Somehow I don’t see how $40 worth of paperback books is going to put an end to her troubles.

Yes, dishonest ideas come to my mind; however it is my belief that the punishment would far outweigh any possible gain I might experience from participating in an illegal activity. If I could steal enough money to disappear to my own private island, that would be tempting; anything less isn’t.