At an outdoor market, I saw an elderly lady steal a tomato. Should I have said something to the cashier?

Question

At a local outdoor farmer's market, I witnessed shoplifting. I saw an elderly Chinese lady place a tomato in her bag without paying. She was old, Chinese, and did not speak English well. Was it my moral obligation to speak up?

Answer 1

Yes.
"Let me pay for her tomato, please."

Answer 2

She did something wrong. This is obvious. But then again she was an old lady and maybe a little demented or too old to be corrected or punished. I know that two wrongs don't make a right, but it is also certain that many street vendors cheat a lot with their customers. So maybe, after all, this is a very balanced situation. There is cheating on both sides.

I know that by keeping silent you sort of complied with the theft, but doesn't it feel awkward to be a squealer for the sake of a single tomato? If it were a jewel, a car or a baby, you might have shouted or something, but immediately you should seek a refuge, because being a witness is always a very dangerous situation. It is often a question of telling the truth or staying alive. Unless you are a policeman. In this case, doing something would be your duty.

Yes, I think the best policy was to overlook what happened and smile internally at the small imperfections of this world.

Answer 3

The moment she placed the tomato in her bag, you should have notified the vendor what you saw. I base this on the fact that if someone stole something from me and a person witnessed it, I would appreciate a heads up from them. After that, you let the vendor deal with her as she/he sees fit.

Answer 4

In that case I would say no. We treat are old people like they are not important. We throw them away like yesterdays news. We let them go hungry. They can't get decent health insurance because of their income if they have any. We give away more money to foreigners that come into this country to start businesses then we do taking care of our old people. Whats a tomato. Maybe you should of offered to pay for it.

Answer 5

Well,you need to speak up and tell the cashier that someone steal a tomato.

Answer 6

it was your moral obligation to pay for the tomato as a good deed. She may not have had any money and might have been hungry. You could have at least been that nice.

Answer 7

So what if she's chinese, old and didn't speak English. She needs to obey the law like everyone else. Yes you should have told.

Did you know that shoplifting makes the prices of things go up? The more people get away with stealing, the more we will have to pay for that item to make up for loss.

Answer 8

who cares i see people break the law all the time if people minded their own buisness this would be a better place to live got to ask yourself is this tomatoe thief affecting me the answer is no so let it go (or you could have went over to her and gave her purse a real good sqeeze)

Answer 9

You could have, but what could be done? Its just a tomato, and she was most likely gone before she could be caught. Market vendors expect a small amount of shrinkage, and from experience, know that those kinds of things happen.

Answer 10

I wouldn't have made a big deal out of it. If anything, I would have approached the woman doing the shoplifting to "remind" her that she had not paid.

Answer 11

It was not your moral obligation. You weren't responsible for it, so you didn't technically have to say anything. However, you most certainly SHOULD have said something; stealing is stealing no matter who does it, and it just makes life worse for everybody.