The other day I was unloading my groceries from the shopping cart into my car and noticed that there was a can of dog food that was in the bottom of the cart that hadn’t been charged. It cost about 75 cents. Now, I wasn’t going to go back into the store, fight through the line, and pay for it. So it just tossed it into the bag and went on with my life.
But I really didn’t — That stolen can nagged at me. Every time I opened the cabinet to feed the critters, I felt guilty. It was crying out, "Thief, Thief."
I couldn’t stand it any longer. A week later I took the can (or one like it) back to the store and put it on the shelf. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.
With that history, I could sympathize with the Utah woman who paid a 10 year old parking fine that she had gotten in Germany. Read about it here. She got the fine but was ticked off at the process so she ignored it. Then it was like that can of dog food. She thought about it and thought about it. She couldn’t take it any longer.
She sent a check for twice the fine, and in the accompanying letter told the German Police that "she felt better now."
Its great how those little rules instilled by our parents work. One can only hope that times aren’t a changing so much that the rules get changed to where "Its OK if you aren’t caught."
JVH
