Tuesday, September 02, 2014

To Catch a 'Thief'


I know I'm a honest person, but like sexuality, morality has a sliding scale. Yesterday I bought a pair of readers at Duane Reade. I'd left the ones I like in a taxi last week, and the old pair I had at home -- a plus 1 -- weren't strong enough anymore. I found a pair I liked at the drugstore and used the little eye exam to figure out plus 1.5 was what I needed. The following morning I reached for them and tried to read my email messages on my iPhone. I was still struggling to see them early in the morning, so I quickly realized my lost readers must have been a plus 1.75 or 2. Last night I went back to Duane Reade to see if they had the same pair with the stronger prescription -- and they did. I had already thrown the receipt away, so I knew exchanging them would be an unpleasant, if not entirely futile, effort -- it's hard enough PAYING for something at Duane Reade -- so I asked the friend I was with if he was comfortable with me "exchanging" them myself, aka swapping out my 1.5 pair for the the 1.75s. (It would have been seamless, and they would have easily been able to be sold again.) He freaked out and said he most certainly would not, and that was the end of it. But getting back to the sliding scale of morality: I really don't it's hurting anyone -- much less stealing -- to do what I proposed, and I don't really have any qualms about doing something like that. Yet I'm "moral" enough to know it's wrong on some level, so I wouldn't do it if I thought it would make someone with me uncomfortable. (This Laverne surely needs her friend's support!) Curious what others think about this scenario, or other so-called victimless crimes.



Of course, ever since I read an article in high school about a girl who murdered her bitchy tormentor, I've also kind of thought I could kill someone who truly deserved it without thinking twice about it, so maybe my morality is a little more off than I realize!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stealing? NO. Wrong? Only enough to cause you more trouble (f you got caught) then if you went through the effort to legally exchange them. The only harm is that without doing the exchange through the computer, you're changing the inventory levels but I'd be willing to be that the person at the counter doesn't care about those either and would have just let you switch them without the receipt and without going through the computer. How much could they care making MW?

dishy said...

The only problem is that those readers from Duane "Horror" Reade have that plastic tag that is very difficult to get off. Otherwise I would say rip that entire damn store off. The cashiers are some of the worst in the city!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't do it, there is a time you must accept personal responsibility for your actions, you should have checked before you bought...but then I also wouldn't buy readers at Duane Read because I know that are .99 at Jacks .99 cent store...(just don't buy their meat). The lesson here should be to save receipts...you're a writer, this might even have been a deduction necessary for your work (reading goes along with writing. My, probably laughed at, ethics are based on Westland, Michigan (where I was taught them)...not New York, which are often at great odds.

Anonymous said...

I understand wanting to avoid the incredible hassle of dealing with Duane Reade. Still, simply avoiding hassle seems like a poor reason for swapping the glasses without informing the store. You should at least try to exchange them, and if they insist on a receipt, that's on you for having thrown it away. They may exchange them anyway if no tags or labels were removed and they can just put them back on the display rack as-is for resale. If you removed labels, etc., again that's on you. Take responsibility for your mistake and bite the bullet -- buy a new pair and accept a lesson learned. If you do what you propose, it's a minor moral offense, I suppose, but mostly it's just sleazy. Have some dignity!

MarkfromNYC said...

DR has a right to run their business anyway they chose to. As a customer, you agree to abide by those rules. One of the reasons it such a hassle to buy and exchange things at DR is because the staff is so unskilled, reflecting the poor wages they're paid, resulting in the low prices they charge. Being hassled in the exchange process is part and parcel of the convenience of DRs and their low prices. Exchanging used merchandise for new merchandise is stealing, more or less. You should have tried to exchange the glasses first, come what may. And if they refused to exchange them, you should have taken your lumps and bought another pair at your expense. And then maybe started shopping at CVS. Just because something is a hassle, you don't have a right to steal to avoid it. As a consumer, you do have rights, but you also have responsibilities.

charles said...

Buy the new pair. Use the tags off of that one, attach them to the new pair and use the new receipt to exchange them. No one loses anything. All is well. Problem solved.

dishy said...

@ Markfrom NYC - Duane Reade hardly has low prices

DLRnATL said...

Disclaimer: I am an optometrist

OR! Go to an eye doctor, get a proper Rx, spend the money for the eyecare professional's time, staff and training that will help you pick out what is appropriate for your needs. I know this sounds like a great expense, but in the end, you will have something specific for your eyes and the demands you put on them; as well as something that you find fashionable and flattering. And in most cases, if you have any issue with the glasses, the optical will be more than happy to correct the issue.

Kenneth M. Walsh said...

DLRnATL: I had an appointment for an eye exam. Read what I wrote about it today!