Living in the City

Some days it's harder to live in the city than others. Yesterday was one of those days. I was in the baby aisle at the grocery store picking up some creamed spinach for Luke (don't ask me why he loves it), I see a man at the end of the aisle in front of the infant formula. I didn't think much of it until I pushed our cart past him and realize he's stuffing a duffle bag full of formula! I was in disbelief for about 30 seconds, then decided to go back and find him. I'm not sure why...maybe to offer to buy the formula for him or maybe to point him out to a clerk. But it was too late. He was gone and the formula shelf was empty.

I know stealing is wrong. That's common sense plus it's not like the Bible makes exeptions for extenuating circumstances. The ex-retail manager in me usually kicks into auto drive when I see someone stealing, but for some reason stealing the formula made me pause. Is he stealing because his child is hungry or simply because he can? And, why does this happen in the city so often? When these issues wear me out and dig away at my hope, the travelled road to the 'burbs sounds so much simpler.