The apple (or maybe not)

I went for a walk in the nearby neighborhood of Clearfield, Utah this morning. The air was fresh after the deluge of rain last evening. Along the way, I walked by a tree breeming with some kind of apple like fruit, hanging over the sidewalk.  At first I just thought about picking one, but kept going by.  Then I walked back to the tree, since no one was about, and picked one. (I know, maybe not everyone has a little bit of daring, edginess in their soul, but I do when put to the challenge). I carried it all the way back to the house, not sure what it was,(it seemed like a cross between an apple and a plum, kinda). My edginess wasn't to the extent that I would eat it without washing it, not knowing what the owner may have sprayed on it.

That is just a small sample of what goes through my mind when the occasion presents itself.  Should I or should I not?  Actually, I am a very moral, law abiding person. Where I am divided is when it comes to weighing the prose and cons. I don't litter because I don't like to look at litter.  Yet, this morning, against my usual inclination, I did not pick up a single discarded water bottle or beer can.  The sides of the streets were strewn with dirty drink cups and hamburger wraps, yet I left them  where they lay.

For one thing, I didn't have a bag along with me and for another, it seemed like an undaunting task that would not impact the situation one bit by the very next day.  Obviously, the litter didn't phase anyone else in the area.

However, the ripened fruit on the tree, that was laden with so many obviously ready to pick fruit, was different. I was easily able to rationalize that obviously the owner wasn't planning to use the fruit, as it was just hanging over the sidewalk so very ripe and neglected. And isn't the boulevard basically like the street, public property? My mind differentiates between what I see as what the public deems and what I deem to be allowable in stretching the facts.

So isn't this what society does?  We all file away the expectations of society in our brains and manipulate them to fit into our own sense of right and wrong? Not saying this is a good or bad thing, right or wrong, just being human.  I guess it is the degree that we rationalize our behavior.  Is it basically a harmless act or, on the other hand, does it some how it impact our fellow man or world in which we live in a negative way? So is this how Eve got started?