Is This Stealing?

Real, hardcore, dye in the wool Catholics have one very bad thing going for them; a conscience. There is nothing worse than a 'Catholic conscience' when it comes to a value system. The BVM's at Sacred Heart grade school, along with my parent's, instilled in me the 24/7 God sees you approach to life. I can recall being around five years old, doing a 'no-no', then going in our house closet and hiding so God wouldn't see me. Naturally, I found out later this was a waste of time and then, in my mind, life showed itself to be totally unfair.
My first piece of thievery was when I was six and we lived at 127 Clinton street. That was when I started collecting baseball cards. I'd run on over to Shaffer's grocery story and snag a packet for 5 pennies. A guy could get a TOPPS packet and a piece of sugary gum for that price. My very first card was a New York Yankee picture of Billy Martin. Anyway, on this one summer day I had the urge to visit Shaffer's except I had no cash. So, out in the kitchen, just above the sink, was a small container shaped like a Dutch boy and inside it I knew there was some loose change. Yep! I did it. I stole a nickel. Fortunately for me this piece of devious behavior hasn't had any impact on my life SIXTY YEARS LATER!
The reason I bring this up is because a few weeks ago I made a trip to our Giant Eagle Food store to purchase coffee. I'm very particular about what kind of brew I drink. And since I drink a lot of it it's very important that I shop around for the very best and least costly brands.
Giant Eagle, on this day, was having a sale on Eight O' Clock caffeine. That's good stuff. The coffee came in the whole bean variety so I went the store grinder. I like my coffee ground as fine as possible. I filled the container and then noticed at the bottom of the grinder was a mound of coffee. It had built up from previous 'grinder's who had let it set. This was my conundrum. Do I let the other grounds stay there. After all, I hadn't purchased any of it. Should I put it in a paper sack and write, "for a homeless coffee lover" and leave it on a shelf. I don't know how many homeless folks go to Eagle but I suppose it's possible to have a disheveled fella in the store with a sign reading, 'will work for coffee'.
I didn't do any of those things. I grabbed a paper bag that read 'Market District Coffee' and began scooping. I weighed it and it came to a few ounces shy of a pound. Why did I keep looking over my shoulder? I asked myself, "Is that a store employee coming this way"?. Folks, after I had finished the big scoop there was over a pound of fine granulated coffee in my bag. Mind you it was 'mongrel coffee'. As far as I knew it might have been ground hamster manure but there was a pound in my bag.
When I went to pay I went to the self check out. Why did I do that instead of going through the regular line where the whold western world could see what I had done?  After paying and getting my receipt I left the premises hurriedly waiting for the 'coffee police to stop me at the door. As I approached my car I mentally said, "Aha, I escaped". What did that mean. Today is the first time I've used that coffee. I figure the longer it takes to use a 'possibly stolen' thing the less the sin. Sort of like, "I didn't really need it all that bad so it must not be that big of a sin". Certainly, it's not a mortal sin. Possibly it's a small, ant-like venial sin that only adds fifteen minutes in purgatory. I could live with that-----if it is a sin. Who knows?

As I sit I am drinking a brew of mongrel coffee and realizing it's not all that bad, there is only one thing going through my mind---------
Sometimes it's hell being a Catholic.