Just now when I went out to lunch, I felt impressed to check my vehicle registration sticker. I discovered to my surprise that some time in the past someone stole it and the one beneath it. It won't do them much good since it expires on Friday, but it makes me glad I never got pulled over. In all likelihood, even if a patrolman noticed, I'd just get pulled over, notified, and have to purchase a valid sticker (my new one is probably in the mail as we speak), but it makes me sad that people are so dishonest that they walk through parking lots stealing little stickers. It's hard to believe that the people in Noah's time were more wicked than they are today.
Sometimes, people steal in order to own something. If I had known my friends in school with STOP signs in their rooms were criminals, I would have probably turned them in, but they at least kept the things. What is this guy going to do with an expired registration sticker? My boss in graduate school had his license plates stolen. I know why now. He had "Dr. Grow" which I am probably sure some student took because of its allusion to marijuana (grow houses, etc.) to be funny, cool, or whatever. Ripping stickers off the corner of the plate while leaving the plate there indicates that they did it just in order to evade monitoring.
Most people in town don't even bother to avoid it. This year, the DMV instituted new temporary placards for people who buy cars from dealers, and I would say 75% of the ones I see driving around are expired. They are even easier to read than before, so it's not like they care. Fools at the highway patrol wouldn't hire me; I'd have paid for my salary this month alone just writing tickets for unregistered vehicles. At least they didn't steal my plates, but then I've seen cars without plates, cars that smoke, and the whole lot driving around, and nobody seems to mind.
We like to think of ourselves as law abiding citizens when all too often we are anything but. As we focus on the lawless actions of people around the world, we gloss over the minute albeit frequent infractions committed by those close to us and dear to us, including those things we do ourselves. No matter how good a man may be, he is still a man. In every moment, each of us is less than he ought to be, than he can be. We all make excuses and find ways around things we find foolish or imposing. We may not do it every day, and we may not out and out rip registration stickers off another person's car to avoid paying our dues, but we all foolishly think when we do hurt that we only hurt ourselves. Others sometimes pay. Those left behind by suicide are hurt. Those next to the smoker are affected. The driver of the car without a sticker will now be inconvenienced and charged for a new one. There are no victim-less crimes. There are no crimes that only hurt us. We have neighbors, friends, families, coworkers, and fellow men, all of whom are somehow however small the degree may be asked to pay for what we do with us. The law, someone said, furnishes protection not just from others but from ourselves. We lie that it's ok just this once. It's not. Even if it's legal, if it's not ethical and moral it stays deep within our soul and hurts us.
I am sad for this person. Not only did it not really help them, but if they get caught with MY sticker, I think it will be worse.
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