Thou Shall Not Steel...

There is just something inherently wrong with going to Church on Sunday morning and finding a collection of shopping carts from Costco tucked away behind the chapel, strategically positioned next to a stack of recyclable materials.

I know times are tough everywhere and certainly we need to recycle for a multitude of reasons, but I’m reasonably certain that the right thing to do with items that are not yours and identifiable, such a shopping carts clearly marked, should be returned.

I remember as student in criminal justice our instructor telling us the tale of the factory worker walking out of work with a wheel barrel filled with saw dust. When questioned by security, he insisted it was merely saw dust that would have be thrown out anyway. Regardless, the saw dust was searched thoroughly and inspected to insure nothing was being taken. Satisfied, the guards let him pass with the wheel barrel filled with dust. Turns out he was stealing the wheel barrow. Sometimes the most obvious is the least obvious.

So what do you do? I mean the right thing. Do you tell the Pastor and confirm their intent to return the carts and hope he is not aware of their existence? Do I offer to push them back to Costco which is a mere mile and half away? I know there are people who drive around in pick up trucks at 2:00 in the morning in search of stray or rogue carts in search of thier freedom, but I don’t know how to find those people.

I could put the carts on the street with the hopes that these people might happen by. But that puts unmarked steel objects in the street, quite the road hazard. If I leave them on the sidewalk, I know some bored teenagers will put their buddies in the cart and push them around until it flips over and breaks my arm. That’s another story.

By now my dilemma has gone full circle. Do I get the carts back or do I ignore them? I hate to use the word the theft, so do I condone their misappropriation or “rat” out the people who may have other ideas for the carts? I guess if you are going to have this moral dilemma, what better place?