a) One should review Hume's theory of causality.

I think irrespective of what she looked like i'd have said something in a slightly louder voice like "good move on the juice".

Any glares would have been met with an eyeball contest and raised eyebrows from me

(I will add that my mouth doesn't have a filter and Mr MMC often has to give me the "can you please shut the eff up" look"

Yes I am with Mandy and Tangram, I have been squirming reading this, because people always decide to give their dog a good kicking, wallop their kid big time or attempt to knick something in a non professional fashion in front of me! I hate that feeling of what do I do now. What a hag to put her kid in a position like that. I can understand stealing to provide for your child, but stealing in front of the kid and giving it the proceeds is horrid.

If I was with my kid and we both witnessed it, I'm pretty sure the immediate conversation would go something on the lines of:

"Dad, that woman put juice in her bag and didn't pay for it."

Me: "Yes, I saw that too. Now, I'm going to buy a $5 latte for me but if you want a drink we will have to steal it, because I'm not paying for it even though I can afford it and coming here was a matter of convenience and our choosing. How does that make you feel?" ... "Actually forget that, shall we go somewhere else and never come back here again?"

"Dad?"

"Yes dear?"

"I love you. Let's go."

If I was with my son and he had seen it then this is definitely what would have happened. I have lots of those loud conversations with him.

In the end people do what they want, circumstances dictating to a degree. It seems odd that no one's mentioned karma yet. Although everyone takes a turn at being unfortunate, bad things do in fact happen to bad people. Sometimes it's nature's way and sometimes karma gets a little nudge in the right direction, but what goes around, comes around.

Being a very logical person (spending decades telling computers and electronics what to do made me like this) but, I became very scared of karma many years ago; in my experience it's a very reactive and real phenomenon. That's why I'd probably leave the situation, not because I thought karma would teach the juice thief a lesson; more because it was a warning that my pathway could take a wrong turn.

Weird, but true.

See? It's always the quiet ones....
BE's so good I haven't even turned the Superbowl on yet.

I'd have fixed with a steely glare and then at the cash said sweetly 'oh dear, you've forgotten the drink you put in your handbag, you wouldn't want to be caught for shoplifting'. Or thought of doing this all the way to the till and then said nothing. Who can tell really.

oh they did!

Ok, the general conclusion seems to be to voice or signal some disapproval to the sciving thief, and possibly confront her about it.

How about a twist on the original moral dilemma. This time the woman is a downtrodden mother and orders two small filter coffees. She asks her child to pick up a drink and again slips it into her handbag. But it's not at Costa Coffee, it's at an independent coffee shop?

Would you dish out the same treatment?

If she's a downtrodden mother she should be buying the kids something first and maybe ordering herself something affordable. We've all been there as single parents without 2 shits to rub together - if you are anything of a decent parent then the kids come first whether you starve or not.

Anyhoo no-ones to know background circumstances of strangers in a shop so your point is moot.

What's the store name got to do with it? Do courts punish according to corporate size? Theft is theft. Whether you sneak goods into a purse or 'forget' to remind the cashier you've not paid for some beer because she missed it in your cart. There's really no grey area if you make a conscious decision either way.

All property is theft from the general populous.

Thinking like this frees my conscience thus allowing me to treat Loblaws as a buffet.....

As for her robbing a bottle of juice...How much do Costa pay to the farmer in the poor country living in REAL poverty??? Who is really stealing???

Nick a drink - help a poor farmer