Chuck Luck
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Here's a bit of a moral dilemma for you to ponder:
Last week we went to that bastion of all things flash frozen, Trader Joe's. After unloading the groceries, I pulled the shopping cart back to the cart station in the parking lot (I pull the cart behind me with one finger because actually driving the cart from behind like a normal person makes me feel like a soccer mom; ick). There at the cart station I noticed one cart with a box of Charles Shaw wine (a.k.a. Two-buck Chuck) on the bottom shelf. I poked at it with a finger, trying to determine if it was empty, still packed with wine bottles, or teeming with live rats. Much to my delight, it was not full of live rats, but kittens! Just kidding. It was just wine bottles.
Me: Wanna take it?
Ethan: (looking at me like I've just asked him to help me drown a box full of kittens) No!
Me: Why not? It's just going to sit there. If we don't take it, someone else will.
Ethan: But what if the person who bought it comes back for it?
Me: Someone else will take it before that happens. It will either be us or someone else.
Ethan: But we didn't pay for it. That's stealing.
Me: No, it's not; it's already been paid for. It's like finding a $100 bill on the sidewalk. Sure, the person who lost it might come back for it, but chances are that if you leave it there, someone else will pick it up first. And they might use it for eeeeeevil rather than good.
Ethan: I don't know...
Me: If you really wanted to do the right thing, you'd take it back into the store.
Ethan: (noncommittal) Yeah...
Me: Oh, so you're not trying to be a good citizen, you're just too lazy to go back and get it. (At this point we're out of the parking lot and about two blocks away.)
Ethan: I guess it's okay.
Me: Of course it is.
Ethan: (turning the car around) How are we ever going to drink all that?
Me: We should go home and drink it all tonight. That'll teach us not to steal.
Now here's the moral question I pose to you, dear readers: Should we have taken the box of wine or left it for someone else because, at the rate we drink it, we'll still have some left for our 75th wedding anniversary? Shouldn't it have gone to a needy vinophile instead of two coke addicts (drinky, not snorty)?
I would have taken it too. The same thing happened to me once but instead of a case of wine it was a sack of potatos. I took the potatos and gave them away to all my friends and family. Free potatos for all!! Maybe thats what you should do with your wine. I like wine.
I don't know.....my first thought was that I wouldn't take it, but I know that if I saw a twenty dollar bill on the sidewalk, sans wallet, I would totally take it. What a dilemma...
PS I forgot comment about your last post, but those pictures were great. Your hair really IS super-shiny. It looks like you guys had a blast.
Fate can not be denied. Anyone could have happened upon the wine, but it was you who actually did. As such, the fates chose you to have the wine. It could just as easily been an alcoholic and finding the wine could have been the impetus to push said alcoholic into a tailspin of depravity the likes of which haven't been witnessed since Sodom was buried under four feet of brimstone. Or it could have been some highschool kids who decided to drink it all and go for a joy ride. The mind boggles at the catastrophes you helped avoid.
I don't say, "Shame on you for taking what is obviously someone elses!"
No, I say, "Kudos to you my fine Utah Saints, for saving someone else who might not have the moral fortitude to surive such a windfall!"
Er, or something more witty and poetic...
I would have either (a) brought it into the store or (b) taken it. If I were with my husband, it would have been (a), if I were all alone, (b).
Great blog!
I would have taking it to the store, I always think of what I would have like to happened if I was the one losing the item (in this case the wine). In the other hand, only if the store was closed I would have taken it.
Now that you have the wine the idea of sharing it with your friends is a good one – maybe is time for you to have a party!
BBB
I have no idea what I would do - probably leave it there for the high school kids or the wino. At least they would enjoy it before they die. I like my wine in modest quantities. On the other hand, I love to use wine in my cooking...
Oh, these moral dilemmas! Shame on you for making me think on a Friday =)
BTW... "drinky, not snorty"? Hee hee hee. Now that's funny.
oh, i probably would have taken it, too. after all, it's just good old two buck, and those bottles are like, well, not quite a dime a dozen, but you did the math, i'm sure. it's always handy to have around! cheers!
As sassy said, it's two buck! How could you resist, really? I'd have done the same.
OK, I'm going to sound like a total snob right now, but you did that person a favor. That stuff sucks. And no, not because it's cheap. But because it sucks. It's like back in the old days when Italian wine makers sent over "red coca-cola", fizzy red wine. Yuck. There are a number of great wines for under $5 that don't taste like crapola.
As to your question, I would have taken it back to the store. I tend to guilt trip myself hard and I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I'd just left it there or taken it. But if it had been cash, hell yeah, I would have taken it. It's not like somebody can show me a receipt and claim ownership.