Article posted Thursday, August 27, 2015 10:31am

Dear Mary Pat,

I have a friend who likes to test the limits and she’s always doing something daring or foolish and it makes me so nervous to go out with her. The worst incident was last week when we were coming back from our summer job and we ran into a gas station to get some Cokes. She paid for her drink, but put a candy bar in her purse without paying for it. It was pretty busy and the guy helping us didn’t notice. I told her to put it back and she told me to be quiet and to stop being such a baby. When we got outside, I told her that she should just go back in and pay for it and she said it was no big deal, she just did it to see if she could get away with it and that didn’t make her a thief or anything. Am I making too big a deal out of this? A couple of my other friends thought it was funny when she was bragging about it a few days later.

Signed,

Friend of Sticky Fingers

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Dear Friend of Sticky Fingers,

I think you have every right to be upset with your friend since it is stealing. It doesn’t matter if the item is $.20 or $20, when you take something from a store without paying for it, it is stealing. I hope your friend finds better ways to entertain herself than taking candy bars for free.

You should maybe try talking to her again and telling her that you don’t think what she did was right. Also, try again to get her to pay for it. If she doesn’t listen, at least you tried to talk sense into her. I’m hoping that this was just a stupid prank and she won’t try something like this again. Nearly everyone has security cameras in their stores and she could easily be caught the next time. Be sure to remind her of that too. I hope she shows more honesty in her summer job. If she starts to get more reckless, it might be time to find a new friend to hang out with.

Good luck,

Mary Pat