Am I Judgemental, Or Merely Naive?

It's not my habit to make less than 2 trips a week to a grocery store. Usually it's more like 3. I know it's wasteful of my time, money, and sanity, but I always always forget something the first time around.

This morning I headed back to the store for a few things I'd forgotten on Tuesday. Deodorant, razor blades, baby cereal (donuts). Just some necessary things that couldn't wait until the next big trip.

I remembered while I was there that I needed to get a birthday present, so I headed over to the toy section to have a look. There was a young couple there, pushing a cart with a baby's car-seat balanced on top. I might not have noticed them, but they were taking up most of the aisle and not moving out of my path when I got close enough. I just turned around and went the other way, hoping to find a toy in a different aisle.

When I came back to that first aisle, they were still there - and I noticed the mom quickly shoving something in her diaper bag. The dad was talking loudly to the baby, playing and making lots of noise. This time as I tried to pass them, they scooted away.

Maybe it was just my overactive imagination seeing something dramatic, but it looked like they had stolen a toy. The dad seemed like he was creating a distraction. The mom seemed very quiet and sneaky. The pair of them looked pretty downtrodden: sloppy and dirty. I started thinking that poor child, growing up with parents who'd steal, don't they know that she'd rather have responsible, loving parents than a shoplifted toy? However, since I couldn't be sure of what I'd seen (and I wouldn't have known what to do even if I was sure) I stopped my judgemental train of thoughts. Just because they looked like they couldn't afford a toy, didn't mean they were stealing it. Shame on me, I thought, for passing judgement.

I finished gathering my items and headed to the checkout, making small talk with a little old lady who gushed over Lauren's smile. I'd completely forgotten about the episode in the toy section. As I walked towards the exit, that same couple was coming through an empty checkout lane, having purchased nothing, with nothing in their cart but the baby's car seat and diaper bag.

I started thinking about how suspicious that looked, and wondered if my original assessment had been correct. They slowly made their way along-side and slightly behind me, joining me and several other customers heading for the exit.

When I walked through the security detectors at the doorway with the couple just beside me, the alarms started going off. The store greeter rushed over to stop me. I had walked through the door barely ahead of the other shopping cart, so it looked like I had tripped the alarm.

My face was burning as the other customers eyed me, and I met the gaze of the mom with the diaper bag. I quickly looked down, trying not to look accusatory.

It was no big deal, the security guard/greeter looking through my things, and I didn't say anything about what I thought had happened. Would you have? Not knowing for sure what you had seen? Even now, I doubt myself. Something inside tells me not to borrow trouble or throw stones in a glass house or jump to conclusions.

It's not like stealing a small toy is a huge deal, I know, but it makes me sad that it might've happened under my watch. It makes me feel used. Like I was in on the plan, and they're sitting somewhere laughing at the skinny girl with the red face who was their scapegoat.

What would you have done? Said something in the toy section? Told an employee about the possibility of a theft? Told the greeter to check the other cart instead? And if it turned out that you were wrong, how awful would you have felt? Worse than knowing a toy was stolen with your help?

What should I have done?