Is ‘Testing’ Grapes Before You Buy Them Stealing?

I eat grapes from the grocery store.  Just one.  Just to see if they are nice and sweet or not yet ready for prime-time consumption.

I will also on a rare occasion crack open a bottled water from the cooled drinks at the front of the store while I do my shopping.  By now, you've probably all heard the story of the family that moved to Hawaii, was just settling in and had to make a trip to the store to stock their house with food for their first night.  Mom and dad were starving so they got two ready-made deli sandwiches and scarfed them as they ate and put the wrappers at the top of the cart to remember to pay for them.

Well, they forgot.  They exited the store.  The store security got them.  The police were called.  The parents were arrested.  Their child was taken by social workers and the two went to jail. . . all the while begging the store to let them just pay for the $5.00 sandwiches.

My husband tells me every time I pop a grape into my mouth to make sure they aren't sour or foul that I'm stealing.  I'd be happy to drop a penny in a "taste box" for the privilege of not wasting much MORE money on food that will end up rotting in the fridge.

It's too obvious that what happened to that Air Force staff sergeant and her family was nuts.  The store was nuts and the nuts spread through the system until they got their daughter back something like 12 hours later.

But, that brings me back to my grape.  Am I stealing?  Or is it ok?

Make a comment here or link to my Facebook page.  Do YOU taste the grapes??