Letter of the Day: Newspaper theft hurts vendors and can results in charges

As a newspaper vendor for most of the past 20 years, I find it somewhat amusing watching people purchase a newspaper from an outside rack.

Don’t get me wrong, their patronage is what helps me feed my family. But the two most common things I observe when seeing someone get a paper from a rack are grabbing one in the middle and theft.

I can assure you the newspaper in the middle is no better than the one on top. Also, I can understand that money may be tight from time to time, but have we, as a society, lowered ourselves to stealing a 50 cent newspaper?

The common misconception on this is that it is "only a newspaper," and besides, "They make plenty of money anyway," or "They won’t miss just one." If that same thought occured at every location in Iredell County, well you can see that would start to add up.

To those of you who faithfully purchase from these different locations around the county, the individual contractors thank you for your patronage. If you see someone stealing a newspaper from a rack, simply ask them if taking that newspaper is worth the embarrassment of having a criminal record.

Thomas D. Sloan
Statesville