Didn't Your Mama Teach You Any Manners?

Dear Nordstrom Shopping Bag Thief:

So how does it work? Did you just happen to stroll through the shoe department on a Saturday afternoon and see a random shopping bag sitting there and decide to take it? Or were you stalking teenage girls, just hoping that in their teenaged forgetfulness they would get careless and set their bag down, not remembering to pick it up?

Either way, what you did has really bothered me for the past few days. I think about it while I'm standing at my kitchen sink. I wonder what possessed you to do it while I'm falling asleep. I ask myself how you could do such a thing to an innocent girl while I'm folding laundry. It's like I can't get you out of my mind.

So I thought I'd just clue you in on what you "found" at Nordstrom on Saturday, the little "BP" shopping bag that you happened upon and decided to claim as your own.

Did you know that what you took was a birthday present from one sister to another? Did you know that my daughter and I had just a few minutes earlier enjoyed a fun moment together choosing this gift for her sister--laughing over the silly pink sunglasses, debating which pair of earrings and which necklace she would like best? Did you know that the purchaser of this $36 gift had worked several hours at the public library in order to save enough money to buy her sister just the right thing?

No, I suppose you didn't think about that. I suppose you just saw the little bag sitting on the sofa in the shoe department and thought, 'Ha! It's mine!' and took it home.

Did you open the little boxes and think they were gifts just for you? Did you wear the earrings and necklace this week, get compliments on them from your classmates or coworkers and say, "Why, thank you!"?

Or did you tell the truth about your new jewelry?

Did you tell them that you just saw a little bag sitting all alone on a sofa in the shoe department at Nordstrom and stole it?

Oh, and one more thing . . . has it bothered you at all?

Sincerely yours,

A Hurting Mother

**Disclaimer: I am not one bit blaming Nordstrom for this incident that happened last Saturday. In fact, I called their Customer Service department as soon as we realized that the bag was missing, and their people could not have been more helpful. I still love Nordstrom and will continue to shop there. I'll just watch my bags a little more closely.**