Have you ever accidentally stolen anything?

[Forum Jumper]

While I haven’t accidentally stolen anything, I had an incident in a store once that I feel lucky I didn’t get arrested for.

I took my DH to a little specialty kitchen shop I like to go to. They have half a wall of interesting, cute, distinctive cookie cutters that are just adorable. We spent about 10 minutes there, looking at the wall of cookie cutters. Two more women came over and they were very much interested in the unique cookie cutters, too.

I had held on to 2 of the cookie cutters that I thought I would get. After awhile of looking and discussing cookie cutters, I decided I didn’t want to stand in line at the register for just 2 cookie cutters so I put them back in place and told my husband “let’s go” and I headed out a nearby door.

He walked as far as the door and stopped and yelled out to me “aren’t you going to pay for those?”. The two women that had also been looking at the decorative wall looked over at him and then turned away and walked to the back of the store. I turned around to him and said “what?” and he yelled out from the store again, “aren’t you going to pay for those?” Two more people walked past him to go into the store and he wouldn’t budge.

I said “no, I am not going to get them this time” and he yelled back “what? aren’t you going to pay for those?”

I finally yelled back “no, let’s go”. The man would neither move nor shut up.

He yelled out again, “aren’t you going to pay for those” and people started noticing him with his repeated question and refusal to move away from the door!

I walked back to the door and quietly said to him in a very deliberate tone, “I am not going to get them this time. Please be quiet and come out of the doorway”. He said “what did you do with them?” I said “I put them back on the wall where I got them from”.

It took me 5 minutes to get him out of that store but we still “discussed” after we walked away. Needless to say, I will NEVER be taking that man back to any of my favorite places to shop again. Sigh.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Once when my kids were small, I had gone shopping with three of them. The oldest was about four. I had picked up a magazine, leafed through it, and made a comment that it was too expensive as I put it back on the shelf. I checked out, and after we got home my four-year-old proudly said "Look, mom, I hid that magazine in your purse so you didn't have to pay for it!" I had to give him a long talk about why that was NOT a good idea! I was too embarrassed to go back and pay for it though.

 

[Bebella]

Most recently, a couple frozen pizzas from Target...I had put them in that back underneath part and then when I was unloading my cart & paying, I was in the front of the cart so I didn't see them ...It wasn't until I was out at the car that I realized they were there...Oops!

 

[MagicaDeSpell]

I must confess, I accidentally stole something from a neighbor. It was the Halloween after Hurricane Sandy and Halloween was canceled and there was no power, so the neighborhood kids were just milling about trying to play (it was cold) while the sun was out. A neighbor I didn't know very well from the nearby apartments came over with a mixing bowl full of candy she wasn't going to be able to give to Trick or Treaters and left it with one of the mothers. One by one the other mothers went home as it got darker, and no one took the bowl. Eventually I was it and took the bowl in for the night.

The problem is, I didn't know the neighbor who loaned it to us! I couldn't have recognized her on sight. For years I kept the bowl and the guilt, certain everybody in the neighborhood knew I was the one with the bowl and, somehow, the neighbor would recognize me. Once in a while I did think I saw her out and about, but I didn't carry the bowl around with me and we never spoke. Finally, I gave the bowl to Goodwill with a box of other things.

I figure, if I ever see her again (and recognize her, whoops), I'll buy her the same mixing bowl set, it's a standard Anchor Hocking set.

 

[Atlas722]

No.

 

[Ambear]

Yea, when I was little my gramma took me to kmart and I found a cool scrunchy and I put it on my wrist like kids used to and then completely forgot about it when my gramma was paying. She made me feel so guilty when she found out that I still completely remember that stupid experience lol.

 

[ronandannette]

Not sure if this counts as stealing, but I've got several books and at least a couple pieces of bakeware/food storage items that were lent to me. I procrastinated in returning them and now I'm out of touch with the original owners. My bad. I was also lent a (rather insignificant) item by my BFF that belonged to her child. Tragically, that child passed away recently and I know her well enough to know that she would feel weird if I offered to give it back now, when it clearly can't be of any use and doesn't have any sentimental value.