Clive D. W. Feather wrote:
In article , Cal Nihoni
writes
If you were honest, you could have purchased your ticket from the
machine at your destination - but you decide not to do so and
publicly admit your guilt as well. How odd.

Get real. How many people would do that? Just you I think.

The fact that others are thieves doesn't mean he should become one.

[And, yes, I have paid in similar circumstances.]

You mean you have voluntarily donated[1] the price of your journey to LU by
buying a ticket for another journey of the same price? How very generous of
you. However, I think many people would regard not paying in these
circumstances not as theft but as LU allowing them to travel free by not
providing the opportunity for payment *for that journey*[1].

([1] The point here is that in the absence of staff at the destination, the
only way to pay is to purchase a ticket from the machine for the reverse
journey, which would not have been valid for the actual journey undertaken,
and is therefore technically a donation.)

To take another example, if you inadvertently overrun by 5 minutes the
paid-for time at a parking meter, do you regard that as the theft of the
extra 20p or whatever? If so, how do you proceed? Or like most people, do
you just drive away relieved that you've got away with it? I'm just trying
to explore how absolute your view of theft is.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)