system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
When I was about 3-4 years old, my dad took me into a k-mart, put some boots on my feet, continued shopping, bought whatever bullshit, and then we walked out of the store. As we were exiting, the cashier lady came running after us.

“Sir? Sir? SIR!” She called after us. My dad turned, ready to get in a fuck ton of trouble for stealing boots for his kid.

“You forgot your receipt.”

We were poor as fuck at the time, so I’m guessing that’s why he did it. As a kid I had no clue he didn’t pay for them, I was just stoked I had new boots. From everything else I know about my father, he didn’t steal ever again.
gpt
Reminds me of a story I saw here on Reddit early in the pandemic where a mom didn't have enough for cough medicine and boots for her kid so she bought the boots and hid the cough medicine under her purse. As I recall, the boots were a birthday gift for her sick child. Hard times call for desperate measures.