I don't necessarily mean to be lawful good. A guy I work with always says, "Chaotic good is more fun," but, it's too ingrained in me to be anything other. There are those folks who scam and scrape their way through life… I can think of too many that I know personally, in various ways, and they all annoy the crap out of me. I become less and less tolerant of these folks, the vast majority of the world, every single day.

I feel more and more strongly that I am only entitled to what I earn, thus WHY should you be entitled to more? Why should you get to sit on your perfectly healthy backside and take my tax money to watch day time television? (Yes, I am perpetuating a stereotype here, but I am actually related to one who fulfills the stereotype completely.) Or why should someone else be allowed to hold a job making as much as, or more than, I do, and yet, not do a quarter of the work I do? (And, yeah, I've learned not to ask that question out loud as it would make your manager look bad enough to decide you are not someone she wants working for her.)

So, the net result is that I always end up doing what is right because it's what is fair. I won't not buy a train ticket, just because I am pissed off at the fare increases, because, even if there are other people who don't pay, that isn't justification for me not to pay.

And there are people who lie like they breathe. You never know if they are telling the truth, even if there is no reason for them to lie...

And, then, the other day at work, we were discussing the arduous task of moving house. This guy had moved, but just down the street, so he didn't anticipate needing to get any equipment to help him move… He tried to steal a shopping cart, but in the UK, most are equipped with some kind of device to keep the carts from disappearing. So, he got to a certain point in trying to leave the perimeter of the store, and a strong magnet caused a brake to come down, and the cart could no longer be used. He didn't realize that would happen, and was baffled when it did. Of course, I started explaining that it was magnetic, etc, and a co-worker jumped in to clarify "You should have lifted it up over the line." I realized that they both thought I knew about this because I made a habit of stealing shopping trolleys, instead of what really happened: I saw the signs at Tesco, and I wanted to know what the method was they were using to actually stop the cart from working past a certain point, so I googled the brand name. (Not that they would actually acknowledge my explanation. I guess it makes them feel justified to believe that I was stealing shopping carts in my spare time.)

Look. These are people who work with me. They make as much money as I do, maybe more. These are SINGLE people who are only supporting themselves, not a husband, 3 dogs and a cat. (We try desperately to keep all of Ray's earnings in the US, so we live almost entirely off my paltry UK salary.) They should have tons of cash to spare to rent a trolley to move. It's easier to cheat and do what is wrong rather than the alternative, which I would have chosen.

And the worst part is: I am vaguely bitter and pissed off about this. Not enough to actually even argue futilely with them about why it's wrong. (They don't care. They don't believe it hurts anything.) But it's still there - that niggling little annoyance.