Is it still stealing if it was mine to begin with?........

I have a favorite pen. It writes well, it has a comfort-grip, and it has a certain heft to it that I like. I'm pretty sure I could use it as a weapon if the need arose. Hubby got it in one of the many Pepsi promotions they do each year that involve giving away merchandise but not pay raises. Mainly merchandise like caps, t-shirts, and key chains. And the occasional Harley.

Not only does it boast the proud Pepsi logo on it, it also has the NFL logo on the end. But it didn't photograph well and really has nothing to do with this post.

I went for a pedicure one Saturday at my favorite nail place, but not a $300 pedicure this time, thank goodness. The young man sitting at the nearest station said from behind his face mask, "wrngrj jliewaj qwaomvpz" which I took to mean "Sign in please." (I am NOT making fun of his culture or his language; I AM making fun of the way people of all cultures sound when they are speaking from behind a face mask. So there.) There was no pen on the clipboard, however, so I took mine out of my purse.

After I had finished being pedicured and had paid, I reached for my pen to write down the debit amount in my checkbook, lest I get into trouble balancing my checkbook. My pen was not in my purse, and I realized I had left it on the clipboard after signing in. I went back to the desk, but my pen was nowhere to be found. I didn't ask anyone, because they were all busy mumbling behind their face masks, but I looked on the clipboard and in the little cup where they keep all their forgotten/stolen pens.

I departed slightly depressed. It wasn't like I could just go to Wal-Mart, which is right next door, and buy a new pen. It was the wrong season for Pepsi to have an NFL promotion, and who could say they would actually be giving away pens if they did? And who could say I could trick hubby into giving me ANOTHER one, in addition to the Harley? My favorite pen was just gone.

A few weeks later, I went back for another pedicure, and as I went to sign in......... THERE WAS MY PEPSI/NFL PEN!! It's not like it was a similar pen. It's not like there were pens like that all over the county. It was mine. I was in a quandary. What should I do? Explain to the nice young man behind the face mask that this pen was mine, that I had left it the last time I was there? Or just suck it up to bad luck and kiss my pen goodbye.....again?

I did neither. I signed in, and then I nonchalantly dropped the pen into my purse and had a seat in the waiting area. I didn't pause or miss a beat. I looked like the professionalest of all professional shoplifters. I'm sure my face flushed red, and I was afraid to look up because I just knew everyone was staring at me. The whole time I was getting my pedicure, I alternated between smugness that I had my pen back and guilt that I had in essence stolen from the nail salon.

I don't think I waited long enough for my toenails to dry completely.