There is nothing nicer than looking at the merchandise available in the shop and appreciating the range of what is on currently on offer. Granted, the majority is either anonymously packaged, indecently marketed, or from the onset, not personally appealing after all, we do buy with our eyes first! But some are creatively, even beautifully and tastefully displayed. Each shopper has their own preference as to what they admire and would like to try. As a renewed consumer, who has not being able to shop for about 30 years as the cupboard at home was full, it is an exhilarating yet somewhat unfamiliar experience, but recognisable and extremely enjoyable. It is in fact, liberating! Browsing has taken on a whole new meaning and stopping to attend to normal family-home chores and work commitments, has never been more difficult, even when being so organised and efficient. It could very easily become addictive, yet at the moment, being still a novelty, it will hopefully wear off or stop once the permissible time has expired. However, there remains the difficult choice between just continuing to view or to actually pluck up the courage and shoplift. Bear in mind that this consumer is legally unable to purchase and has to resort to stealing. Like any amateur or expert shoplifter knows, it is the allure of what is available, compared to what is already owned at home (and more than likely, past is sell-by-date) together with the fact that you are not intending to pay, for what it is that you are taking, that makes the act so dangerously exciting. Compounded with the knowledge that you could possibly be caught, if the conscience and guilt do not deter you from going any further, it has to be worthwhile..... So how the hell do you choose what to pinch? Do you look for young and modern; something closer to your own age or even, at a product you would consider to be old fashioned? It all comes down to what it is, that is going to provide you with the initial lustful attraction (Oh, I so want some of THAT!) followed by the breathless feeling of anticipation prior to either a spur-of-the-moment decision and impulse to do it right there and then, or the thrill of planning it for another time. Do you go for quantity or quality? As your ethics are already being compromised with the illicitness of the act, can you still look at yourself in the mirror afterwards, without feeling completely ashamed at your behaviour or, it is true what accomplished shoplifters say? "The more you do it and succeed, achieving the gratification sought, the easier it becomes." Then, there remains the obstacles as to whether the product even wants to be lifted by you and if, once in your possession, does it offer everything that you were looking for? Will you keep it or discard it and look for another? Are you a trophy hunter or a treasure collector? One also needs to be careful of the act of shoplifting becoming a compulsion, in an unconscious attempt to silence feelings and needs within, not being fulfilled for whatever reason(s). The Bottom Line: There is nothing wrong with window shopping, but IF you are going to shoplift and worse still, you get caught, is it not easier to ask for forgiveness, than what it would have been to ask for permission?