Grape Advocacy

[HawaiianShirts]

In the grocery store last week with the youngest member of the Shirts family (almost four years old). Watched a guy standing by the grapes in the produce section, apparently trying to decide which bag to put in his cart.

Nope. He's picking grapes. When he had a handful, he walked off with them. I scowled, but he was too far away for me to do or say anything about it.

Then Fate seemed to intervene. Little Miss Shirts asked for bananas. I selected some and put them in the cart. She asked if she could have a banana right now. Grape Thief rounds the corner and is now across the aisle from me. So I loudly had the following conversation with my daughter.

Me: You want a banana to eat right now?
Her: Yeah!
Me: Sorry, you'll have to wait.
Her: Why?
Me: Because we haven't paid for it yet.
Her: Oh.
Me: And eating something without paying for it is stealing. I don't think it's good to steal from the store.
Her: No.

I glared at the grape thief. He had the nerve to glare back. I gave him the kind of look my dad used to give me before asking me if I was really sure I wanted to disobey him. Grape Thief looked at the floor and hurried away.

Score one for me!

[RealUnimportant]

Huzzah! The best form of passive-aggression, a successful deployment! And good on Lil' Shirts too.

[Kittish]

Not entirely relevant, maybe, but one of the grocery stores here has a little stand with small apples, tangerines and bananas that's specifically intended for kids to be able to have a snack while the parents shop. I confess I have also snagged a piece of fruit from it a time or two as well when shopping, but I would never eat something sold by weight before paying for it.