The Purse Thief
Once upon a time there was a lady named Rose. Rose worked as a waitress in a diner and lived in a small apartment nearby. She had been saving her tips for several months to buy a new dress. The day finally came when Rose had saved up enough money to buy the dress, and she put the money in her purse and was walking down the street toward the dress shop when a man named Simon grabbed her purse and ran away with it.
Rose was very sad. Now she would not be able to buy the dress. She returned to her apartment.
Meanwhile, Simon went to the liquor store and used the money from Rose’s purse to buy some Kentucky bourbon. Simon went home with the bourbon, poured himself a glass, and was just about to take a sip when the police knocked on his door. The police accused him of stealing and took him to court to stand trial for robbery.
Simon explained to the jury that he was not a bad person. He was just trying to stimulate the economy. If the money had been left in Rose’s purse, who knows what she might have done with it. She might have bought a dress made in China, which wouldn’t have done any good for the local economy, but, instead, he put the money to much better use – buying Kentucky bourbon, which created jobs for local farmers, barrel makers, and distillers.
The jury began to wonder, was Simon a bad guy — a thief, or was he a hero – someone who helped stimulate the economy and create local jobs to help people? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is your verdict?
*Would your decision be different if Simon were the government, taking the money legally, through taxation?
*What do you think Rose will do in the future? If she knows her money will be taken away, will she still work as hard to earn those tips?
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