I had to read the story twice to believe it was true. A couple was shopping at a Honolulu Safeway with their 2-year-old daughter. The mom, pregnant, picked up two sandwiches that she and hubby ate while shopping. She kept the wrappers in order to pay for the eaten items at checkout.

Raise your hand if you have ever done this!

The problem was they forgot to pay. As they left the store, they were arrested for shoplifting. When they were hauled off to jail, the 2-year-old was taken to  Child Welfare for 18 hours overnight.

Now how crazy is this?

Yes, the parents did technically shoplift because they forgot to pay. But it certainly didn’t sound like a crime of intent. Woe to you who tastes a grape in the fruit aisle!

Apparently, the store policy says you can’t pay for items once you’ve left the store, so they couldn’t just pay for the sandwiches and go their merry way. OK, so scold them, fine them or tell them to donate to a charity in the store. But to arrest the couple, send them to jail to post bail while the daughter is hauled off to social services, seems like security gone wild.

Maybe a take away  from this insanity is this, wait until you pay for your groceries to actually eat them. I doubt the woman would have gone into labor had she checked out first and then eaten the sandwiches.

My point is that patience is a lost virtue in our culture. We don’t always have to do things the minute we feel like it. We can put on the breaks. So next time you go to the grocery store, drink a big glass of water and eat a snack before you shop. That impulse eating could just get you arrested!