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Article posted Wednesday, March 5, 2014 11:12am

Dear Mary Pat,

I enjoy flipping through the magazines that waiting rooms have on hand – I catch up on Times, People, and Better Homes & Gardens. Sometimes my reading is interrupted when called into the office. I reluctantly close the magazine and follow.

Yesterday, while waiting, another women and I were flipping through magazines. When she was called into the office and the nurse turned her back for the woman to follow, the woman tore the article she was reading from the magazine and quickly put it in her purse!

I was shocked and intrigued. I wondered if I should report her to the hospital staff, isn’t what she did considered stealing? I also wondered if it would be okay for me to once and awhile tear out a page or two of a magazine when I find something interesting. What are your thoughts?

Ripped from the Headlines

Sturgeon Bay, WI

Dear Ripped from the Headlines,

What are my thoughts? It’s tacky and it’s stealing. I know people might think it’s no big deal since it’s only a couple of bucks but it’s just the same as going into a store and taking a $.75 candy bar without paying for it.

The magazines are there for patients to use while they are waiting. If this woman was so enthralled with this particular article, she could have either purchased the magazine for herself or found the article online, most likely for free. I would guess that the receptionist might have even copied it for her if she would have asked nicely.

This woman knew what she was doing was wrong, otherwise she wouldn’t have waited till the nurse turned her back. So, no, I do not think it would be okay for you to follow her lead.

Good luck,

Mary Pat