Is “reading” a newspaper without paying for it “stealing”?

I was at the Flower Hill Starbucks this morning when a man opened the door, grabbed a Washington Post off the stand and walked out. Mind you, he didn’t buy anything. He just took the paper from the stand, walked outside, sat himself down at a courtesy table and began to pour through it. Since all the newspapers are for sale, not for loan like the chess set, this really annoyed me.

While I finished my coffee, I concluded the jerk had an exaggerated sense of entitlement that pervades Maryland. From my first glimpse, he didn’t look like a homeless person but since it’s Sunday, I opened my mind to the possibility that he might not be currently employed or otherwise have some financial difficulty. I decided that I would not only say something to him but also drop three one dollar bills on his table so he could properly pay for the paper he now had scrambled all over the table.

 I said “The paper is for purchase, not free. If you can’t afford to pay for it, here is some money. Go make it right.” He didn’t catch my point at first so I said it again as I went back to my car. I could here his twang in the background so I went back but not too close. I said in a snitty tone “You don’t even realize what you did was wrong. Do you?” He proceeded to argue with me so I made my point again and walked off. He thought he got in the last word by “sweetly” telling me to “Have a nice day.” He brought the paper back inside and I took my three dollars back.

Actually, I am going to have a nice day. I am going to blog his iniquity over the cyber universe.

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