Tag: self-awareness

Yesterday, Larry and I stopped at Family Dollar. I noticed a Minute Maid lemonade can sitting upright in the parking lot just outside the front door. I figured I would do the staff a favor by picking it up.

I could have just thrown it away, but I’m someone who can’t trash something that’s reusable or recyclable. So, I brought it into the store with me.

On the way out, the cashier spoke up and asked, “Are you going to pay for that?” At first I thought he meant the reams of filler paper I had already purchased from him. Then I realized he meant the can I was holding.

I knew it was going to sound ridiculous to say I’d picked up the can in the parking lot. I even had the thought when I picked it up, “People will think you’re weird.” Little did I know that voice was alluding to a pending accusation of shoplifting. 

We went back and forth. I told him I was going to recycle it. He kept asking if I was going to pay for it.

He couldn’t seem to accept that I’d brought an empty can into the store simply to recycle it.

Finally, Larry snapped and said, “What part aren’t you understanding? He told you he picked up the can in the parking lot to recycle it.”

At that point, another employee chimed in and told us to just go.

I feel unresolved. My mind hasn’t been able to let it go.

I kept replaying the conversation, thinking of all the evidence I could have offered if I’d been given the chance.

I wasn’t able to state my case. They could have pulled up the security footage and seen that I didn’t drink it. They don’t even sell canned drinks. They could have looked and found there were no open boxes of Minute Maid lemonade on the shelves.

Instead, I was sent away with the assumption that I stole it.

Journaling about it, I came to realize that what bothered me most is that someone thinks negatively of me. I find myself caring too much about what some random cashier thinks about me picking up a can in the parking lot.

As if to prove the point to myself, today I found an ALDI bag on my walk. It had a small hole in it, but it was otherwise in great shape. I brought it home, cleaned it up, and I’ll patch the hole with duct tape. That’s just what I do.