to have kept an item I inadvertently 'stole' today?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I was doing supermarket sweep at Tesco's today, huge amount of food in trolley so I hung a maxi pack of Huggies nappies off the hook under the kids seat at the front of the trolley. I paid for all my shopping, then realised when I got to my car that I had walked out with the Huggies still hanging on the hook.

...and then drove off.

AIBU to have kept them?

PS Should I now feel smug for not having ignored Sunnygirl on top of feeling smug about not being a shoplifter?

See that's a classic Iklboo, except it's always the other way around for me. Vending machines have swallowed my money or not ejected the item soooooo many times, and I can't be arsed to complain, so when I do occasionally get a two for one I know I'm easily owed it.

Tesco's in particular, sell fresh goods that I find on opening are either past it, or in the case of lots of the fruit, like plums, are supposed to "ripen at home", but actually stay rock hard until about 3am one morning whilst you're sleeping then rot!

I turn a blind eye to this stuff (as I'm sure lots of us do), too much because the trudge back is so unappealing, that if I had genuinely forgotton a pack of nappies, once like the OP, I'd write it off as give and take, because the prospect of taking my child back out of the car would put me off. It is also partly their responsibility to watch shoppers passing through the tills and notice these mishaps.

And anyway, the OP did not ask "Is this stealing?" which so many people are twisting their knickers argueing about the fact she doesn't think so, she knows it was or she wouldn't have posted. She asked if it was unreasonable. I still think that she wasn't.

Well dot, i wish i lived where you do(or other honest mumsnetters) cos then maybe ds wouldnt come home from school nearly every week having had anotherjumper nicked even though it has his name in and even a brand new coat. Muggin's here used to return other kids stuff but not any more. Ive now realised parents keep stuff that their kids have accidently brought home if its better than their original stuff. Now i just cut the labels out and keep em too!

I would hand in something id seen someone drop ect. If i found anything else or accidently pinched something from Tesco id keep it.

Yes you should!

Although I do think that most people are kidding themselves on this thread. I reckon that in their hearts they would do the right thing, but you put them in that situation and many would do as the OP did.

It's human nature.

It's stealing alright, you can't get past that. But we all steal, whether it's time from our employers or being given too much change (CUSTARDO!) or taking the little bottle of shower gel you get in hotels. We've all stolen at some point, so gerrof yer high horses!

Sunnygirl, hope you're ok. Take a breather, it can seem like people are getting at you when they're really not. It's just with this type of thread everyone is just so keen to get their tuppence worth in and prove how saintly/anarchistic they are.

CUSTARDO YOU THIEF! GET THEE TO CONFESSION!

I say smug in a light hearted way. I think that nowadays the value of honesty had been eroded to the point where to be honest is superior. Why not enjoy feeling smug.

I would return them but feel good about myself as I know that the "easy" option is to keep them.

What do you think Tesco would say for returning them? Oh thnks for your honesty, heres £20 worth of vouchers?!The assistant would just say 'oh thanks', not bat an eyelid and stick em back on the shelf

YANBU. I would have kept them too.

The point is not to expect a reward Carmen.

I stole one of my dd's sweets today. I felt no guilt whatsoever.

They steal from us every weekend. Every Sat night we have a big bag of crisps and watch a DVD, when we go to bed there's usually just less than half the bag left, and when we get up in the morning the bag is empty and the children, curiously, don't want any breakfast!

Oh and last Christmas one of the selection boxes disappeared and a few weeks later I started discovering chocolate wrappers hidden under mattresses, in pillow cases etc.

You see, it's human nature! Perhaps I should have flogged them both there and then, they might grow up to be professional thieves now!

there's a lot of profit in being a professional thief!

why should you get a reward ? Its more about having morals and the reward that brings.

Thanks Rhubarb - I've taken a breather and cleaned the kitchen (so now I do feel smug ). Sorry for being such a wuss!

i have morals but i wouldnt feel bad and return a bag of nappies id taken by mistake!Wouldnt feel any emotional reward from doing that im afraid!

Maybe my emotional reward level is too low but I would feel good about myself for returning them.

I feel good that you feel good.

yes I think my emtional reward level is currently set far too low as well

Chances are you would go to return them and some officious security guard would have you arrested for theft - and you admitted to it!

we would demand your release from prison

i don't feel guilty that the incompetant guy gave me too much change. maybe he should be sacked?

Ironically, I did this once with a book about saving money. I was looking at in in Borders and put it in the bottom of the buggy and didn't find it till I got home. I returned it the next day, having carefully read it taking great care not to bend the spine. I always phone up if I get extra stuff in my Ocado order as I imagine the poor person who promised their children ice-cream and got my fishfingers instead.

On the other hand, if this happened to me in Sainsbury's I would be very tempted not to return it. They have twice sold me out of date/not suitable for sale food which I have then had to traipse back and return. They didn't exactly go out of their way to apologise, or even acknowledge that there was a person, rather than some food with a voice attached standing at customer services.

omg is this still going lol just another point of support to the op i actually feel sorry for her the fact she did'nt pay for the nappies OMG it means she did'nt get her clubcard point for the 6 quid nappies lol bet you feel seen off now ilys LOL

POINTS EVEN

Im with Rhubarb,(spooky, i agree with you in many occasions)
Custardo is thief, Give the change to charity

Okay few more points

1. for those of you who do not point out when you are given too much change, most companies operate an overs / shorts log of how much peoples tills are over / under at the end of their shift. These are logged, monitored, and action is taken. If a company suspects geneal muppetness in making mistakes, the staff could be reprimanded. If a company suspects the staff are doing something untoward, they'll investigate and dicipline / sack, either way, not a nice position for that staff member to be in when its a simple error (where I used to work, any over/short above £4 was recorded, and this was when we were taking about 90k a day on each till, so a small % of error iyswim)

2. staff are forced to do stock take to see what levels of stock they have compared to what they should have which is a pita, if you have ever had to do a stock take you'd never wish it on your worst enemy. If nobody stole, maybe I wouldn't have had to give up my spare time to count packets of asprin

3. companies are coming down harder on people who steal with the current financial situation. what would have been a slap on the wrist can be more serious now. I would lose my job if I was convicted of stealing, so tis easier to be honest and a little embarrassed about having to go back in and pay for something than losing my job.

MN never ceases to shock me. Carmenelectra - I can honestly say we have never had items of school uniform stolen (and at £30 for a pullover and £60 for a blazer, they could be regarded as worth stealing, if you're into that kind of thing).

I despair at the levels of dishonesty I am encountering here!

oH dOT FORTUNATELY MY DS UNIFORM ISNT SO EXPENSIVE, excuse caps! Jumpers are about £8 but it still pisses me off. He often comes home wearing someone elses jumper and i used to return it as it had another kids name in it. Only he never got his returned even though his name is clearly in there! The worst was when he came home in the wrong coat(about two sizes too small) and his brand new BHS coat was never found. I took the other kids coat back like a mug!

I get cross with ds for mislaying his stuff, but even madder at parents who must spot their ds has another childs top on and keep it. So last time it happened and he lost a waterproof sport jacket inthe same way i nicked a better one out of the lost property(ds doesnt know) as i was absolutely livid