Eeeek a moral Dilemma!!!!!(long post)

Ok let me tell you what happened today.........
John and I went to stop and shop to get dinner.....because my family is sooo cool they gave us tons of money and stop and shop gift cards so we could eat....We have been living off of Banquet Frozen dinners (they are so disgusting but they are also 1$)
Anyhoo we decided we would get dinner and a couple of things.......we got stuff to survive, and got all that good food we havent had in a while...money has been so tight.....anyways i had this 10% off coupon so i figured that would help...i have become quite frugal since we have been living in basic poverty..
Well we get to the check out, we decided to go through the scan your own order line because the other lines were full...well we were scanning and we got to the two taco kits....they were priced Buy one Get one..but they rang up both at full price....I called someone over because 3$ is a big deal now a days....The girl came over and pulled up the recipt before i could say anything...we had half our order to ring up....she said it was fine to do 2 seperate orders....we said we had a 10% off coupon and she said "oh well then pay for the first order and then we will go over to customer service to do the second order plus refund you the 10% from the combined total....that sounded good to me....
So i paid for the first half of the order which came to $26.45...and brought the second recipt over to customer service to deal with the other half of the order and the 10% off coupon (the second order came to $29.67)
When i got over there the customer service girl added up both of the recipts and refunded me the money for the taco kit and the 10%...then she handed me back the two recipts and said "Have a nice day".............
I didnt even think about it i just walked away knowing i hadnt paid for the second order......John kept asking me what was wrong, and when we got outside i told him....He thought it was hysterical, and we got in the car and went home...with $29.67 worth of unpaid for groceries...............
Well when we got home i started making the tacos and realized we didnt have the taco kits.....john called the store and they said they had our groceries......john went down and grabbed the bag and brought it home....the bag contained two taco kits, two cartons of cat milk, and a package of Ballpark hot dogs....the problem being we never bought hot dogs...and they werent on either of the recipts.....how messed up is that????? so we got away with $29.67 + hotdogs+the full 10% from the combined 2 orders....is that insane........
I know youre all shaking your head at me right now....but let me explain...I am not a thief, I have never stolen anything in my life....but it was sooo easy, and we so needed it.....I dont know...I feel sort of guilty, while feeling real greatful to whatever cosmic power set this up...........eeeeek
So am I officially a thief or was someone looking down on us who decided to give me a break........
What would you have done????

Guess I have a similar story to share at a local nationwide store here in NZ called 'The Warehouse' they have lots of employees on the Minimum wage and the other day Mum and I were there and we got a man at the checkout who was not really the full quid and Mum had a pair of shoes worth $24.95 as the man scanned him he said, "19.95". Mum said are they on special? the price tag says $24.95 and then he goes OK sorry $4.95, so we did it we walked away with a $24.95 pair of shoes for $4.95. It's holiday time and everyone is short of money, and I know that is not an excuse but yea.

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

Guess I have a similar story to share at a local nationwide store here in NZ called 'The Warehouse' they have lots of employees on the Minimum wage and the other day Mum and I were there and we got a man at the checkout who was not really the full quid and Mum had a pair of shoes worth $24.95 as the man scanned him he said, "19.95". Mum said are they on special? the price tag says $24.95 and then he goes OK sorry $4.95, so we did it we walked away with a $24.95 pair of shoes for $4.95. It's holiday time and everyone is short of money, and I know that is not an excuse but yea.

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LOL....thanx sam....that made me feel a little better......

Originally Posted by Nebula11

LOL....thanx sam....that made me feel a little better......

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Glad it made you feel a little better. Gosh I have another story too, yesterday I got on the train and the ticket man just walked straight past me and everyone payed apart from me, and yip I did feel awfully guilty afterwards.

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

Glad it made you feel a little better.

Gosh I have another story too, yesterday I got on the train and the ticket man just walked straight past me and everyone payed apart from me, and yip I did feel awfully guilty afterwards.

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lol...youre just full of them.......niiiice

Originally Posted by Malakai711

Bridget...

I am about to make your day!! I work for Stop & Shop and I run the self-scan in my store... I applaud you! LoL... because you found the dumbest girl and you took advantage of her... I can tell you from almost a year and a half of experience that all she had to do was void the second item that rang up but she's dumb and told you to do it the half-@$$ed way.. so it serves S&S right that they lose money for hiring such an idiot! LoL... Yet, I havent gotten a promotion... I have a college degree and was trying to work my way up and they have yet to acknowlege the fact that I am far more qualified than just to run the self-scan!.. but, oh well! it sucks for them! Good for you!

~Liza

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Liza you are the coolest...I worked at stop and shop too....they never gave me a second glance yet promoted people that i saw make basic mistakes all day........lol....so i know what you are saying.....your the best you did make my day.....thanx

I'm one of those people who always point out mistakes made by the cashier. I can't help it. I feel so badly if I don't. I'd rather pay then live with my conscience. (I'd make a good Catholic. I confess everything! )

I would not steal from a person, but if someone at a big company makes the occasional mistake in my favor, I don't say anything since it won't come out of the employee's pocket. I must confess to feeling a little guilty, though. A lady at Petsmart neglected to ring up a $10 bag of cat food, but I put the money in the rescue donation jar. If I had been really broke at the time, I don't know that I would have.

hehe!
well i do congratuolate you!!! because since its a big store i presume they dont lose so much money from your groceries anyway

But something happened to me yesterday
i took my mother shopping and she wanted to buy little gifts for her friends before she left the hospital.
so we went into this cheap indian store and she saw 2 little gifts there.
On one box it had 2 prices 1 euros and 3.99
So i presumed it was 1 euro of course then the man on the counter said 3 euros please and i said no! over there it says 1 euro! and he said Ok OK 2 euros please as i bought two of them.

They asked me if i was turkish and i said no IM ITALIAN and he said ok ok sorry.
i wish my skin wasnt so pale!

anyway when we walked out of the shop my mother burst out laughing because she said the tags were 3.99 so over all we did save 4 euros

now i would really like to work at the cashier at the supermarket but im really scared of making mistakes

I did a similar thing at McDonalds once... I ordered about $20 worth of food (not just for me, for my mother and step-father as well!) and they took my order and went to make the food. The kid who took my order and several other kids who were working there (all about 16-17) were standing around behind the counter goofing off, laughing and joking and being really loud, and the kid never came back to get the money from me, someone else just brought me my food, and he was still standing around giggling with his friends, so I left! I didn't feel guilty at all, because if he'd been doing his job instead of joking with his friends, it wouldn't have happened.

In your case, I might feel a teensy bit guilty since it doesn't sound like the girl was being outright ignorant like the kid I dealt with, but I still wouldn't feel very guilty - maybe I'm just a horrible person, but I never feel very bad about taking advantage of a big company - they take advantage of us on a daily basis, after all. So don't feel bad.

Well if it's any consolation to you - just before Christmas hubby and daughter went for a soft drink in a local pub whilst they waited for me to finish work (they'd just bought the groceries for Christmas). He gave over a £20 note (about $38 US) - the person behind the counter swore that he only gave a £10 pound note and refused to give the change for the other £10. Hubby was really really annoyed. But they just wouldn't believe him.

So if you got a bit of good luck I'm not in any mood to deny it you - that same store may have short-changed somebody else before.

You are not the only one - hubby went to the grocery store on the way home from school for me, the total went to like about 33 dollars and change and he used the self serve machine and it somehow screwed up and so the person who ran the self serve had to give him the change - she gave him 33 dollars back and we figured it out on the receipt, he only paid 3 cents for the whole order.

I'm going to take a different position.

One thing I've found is that on occasion, the universe gifts you with something. To take advantage of that gift is wrong.

Here, your family gave you some cash to help you through the hard times. And someone made a mistake, and let you walk away with some food. In your position, I would go back, explain the error, and offer to pay. That was your intention anyway; you didn't go there to take anything from anyone. If they accept payment, excellent. You've handled the problem in the right way. If they don't accept payment, then you've offered, and shown your integrity.

Philosophical point coming up. I know what it's like to live hand to mouth, and need the extra stuff. I know what it's like to want treats and not be able to afford them. I know what it's like to eat noodles for 7 days in a row. So keep that in mind.

I see what happened like a Karma test. My favorite saying is "what would you do if no-one/God is watching?" I would like to believe that we are "rewarded" when we act with integrity, and not from a selfish position. I know this happens with me...when I act with total integrity, the universe supports this by sending more 'gifts' my way. If I act from a need/selfish basis, then those gifts are limited...and limited by my action.

Another thing I think about is the phrase "Give us this day our daily bread..." which, to me, means that for today, I am taken care of. Tomorrow will be handled when it comes. But for today, I will be taken care of.

Living in a position of need creates need. Living in a position of plenty creates plenty. Don't ask me how that works, because I haven't got a clue. But I know it works that way. And it is truly the hardest thing to do - when you feel "in need," to recognize the plenty you have. One of the exercises I do on a daily basis is keep a blessing journal. It reminds me to count my blessings, rather than focus on what didn't work today. On occasion, I have only been able to count having enough toilet paper and rice to get through today...but then, somehow, tomorrow took care of itself.

Enough from me...but I think you get the point. And I really don't mean to make a judgment here, just to look at it from a different perspective.

Best-
Michele

I'm one of the bunch.
Not intentionally done but....
I went to another city to visit some friends a couple of years before I met my husband. We went to the O'Charley's for dinner and had a couple of drinks with it and ordered a bottle of wine. There was never a second thought about the cost. Well we had eaten and drank everything in front of us and sat there and sat there for over 30 minutes waiting for the server to return. They had gotten very busy, but none of us had seen her even in the area for a good 30 minutes or more. So my friend told me go get the car they would be right out. I more or less knew what were about to do, and I went to get the car. On my way out still never seeing our server. They came out as I was getting in the car and got in and we left.
I have been a server/waitress for many years and I am usually very respectful and tip above average. But this person was no where to be found for a very long time and you cannot just disappear and expect a good result. Not saying this server deserved this, but with a check that was in the $$$ amount the mgmt. could not expect the MIA server person to pay.
Yes it was wrong and excessively so, but we weren't going to sit there and wait any longer. We could have found someone else I guess, but we didn't.
It was wrong, and I won't do it ever again, but I don't feel especially bad about it. Sorry, I guess I'm a horrible person.

Originally Posted by pjk5900

Not saying this server deserved this, but with a check that was in the $$$ amount the mgmt. could not expect the MIA server person to pay.
Yes it was wrong and excessively so, but we weren't going to sit there and wait any longer. We could have found someone else I guess, but we didn't.
It was wrong, and I won't do it ever again, but I don't feel especially bad about it. Sorry, I guess I'm a horrible person.

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She may have had to pay. I have been a server in many restaurants and it depends on their policy. That being said - it doesn't mean you are a horrible person. We have ALL done something wrong.

Nebulla11 - you were in a difficult position. I hope things will be better for you soon. If you didn't feel guilty about it you probably wouldn't have posted.

BTW, Super Walmart sells MichaelAngelo's frozen dinners for $1.98 (about $3.25 at Publix!) and they are wonderful! All natural ingredients too. I love the eggplant parm, the 5 cheese lasagna, & the vegetable lasagna! Look for a black box.

I would not have taken it but then I'm not in your situation. But I still don't think I would have, and I would probably reason it out for a bit to these chains probably won't even realize it's missing and they don't give xmas bonuses and they work their employees like dogs for 5.15 an hour... But really when it came down to it I would realize that it has nothing to do with screwing over the grocery store and my guilt isn't for harming them but for me doing something that isn't like me and that is just morally wrong, especially after being blessed with so much.

But that being said not everyone has the same moral belief system. I know that I do things that many groups consider morally reprehensible but I still do them because it's my set of morals that dictates my life, not some holier than thou jerkoffs. So really it's about how YOU feel. The grocery store won't go under for this, they actually have a loss ratio for theft and incidents such as this so it's already figured into their budget. And it's not like you are the first person and you won't be the last and I'm sure even THEY wouldn't blame you for this.

Originally Posted by Malakai711

Bridget...

I applaud you! LoL... because you found the dumbest girl and you took advantage of her...
~Liza

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Do you remember - It might have been a couple of years ago - the Kash & Karry cashier that got fired for taking a $200.00 bill and making change?

that happened earlier this year at a store near me.. but it was a $200 bill with GWBush's face on it hehe

I have to agree with Michelle. I would have gone back and straightened it out. I live by the creed - do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Simply, I wouldn't want someone to take advantage of me and I in turn will not take advantage of others.

I also agree with Michelle in that every time I am honest, show integrity and point out an error (on either the other party's part or my own), I've received more in return somehow. I don't know how it works either, but I've been blessed many times over the years and believe I owe it to being the person I am.

I also am not judging, I just have to be who I am.