Woman caught on camera stealing toy from baby's grave.

[bengangmo]

@Little_Nemo

Some criminals are just opportunistic. They don’t plan out something like “I think I’ll go down to the cemetery and see if there’s anything worth stealing there.” They just follow their normal routine except they commit crimes when they see a low-risk opportunity to do so.

So the woman probably wasn’t thinking “I need a rubber duck. Should I go buy one at Walmart or look around for one I can steal?” What’s most likely is she happened to see the rubber duck on the grave and thought “There’s something I can steal with no risk of getting caught.”

Or maybe, she saw the soft-toy on the grave and thought to herself,

“hey, when it rains that duck is going to get wet, rot, be ruined - my kids would love to play with that, no-one’s using it, why not pick it up?”

[Melbourne]

I hope the duck went to a kid. I’m glad it went to someone who can appreciate it. I don’t really like to see rubish left on graves: I’m kind of over on the presbyterian\puritan side when it comes to decoration of memorials.

We’ve just had our main memorial-day holy day here in Aus. After a couple of days, the local council will clean up all the wreaths.

[Ranchoth]

…so, for the record, if I’m on a stroll around lunchtime, and I pass a shrine to Ganesha, is it OK if I nab a piece of fruit or two for a snack? I mean, it’s not like he needs it.

[Mangetout]

@Snowboarder_Bo

I’m trying not to assume anything and just deal with actuals. I’ve never had to personally supervise or initiate a funeral, so I have no idea if there’s a perpetuity contract for upkeep or what. Surely we have someone here who’s had to do this; perhaps they’ll tell us about their own experiences.

I’d say it’s a fairly safe assumption that there is usually a contract in these situations - some cemeteries specify no artificial flowers or plastic wrappings are to be left on graves (so they can easily compost anything once it fades) - of course in that scenario, the stuffed toy would not be acceptable, but the point is that stuff you leave on graves probably isn’t ‘abandoned’ in the same sense as it would be if you just left it on the street.

[SmellMyWort]

@bengangmo

Or maybe, she saw the soft-toy on the grave and thought to herself,

“hey, when it rains that duck is going to get wet, rot, be ruined - my kids would love to play with that, no-one’s using it, why not pick it up?”

@Melbourne

I hope the duck went to a kid. I’m glad it went to someone who can appreciate it. I don’t really like to see rubish left on graves: I’m kind of over on the presbyterian\puritan side when it comes to decoration of memorials.

We’ve just had our main memorial-day holy day here in Aus. After a couple of days, the local council will clean up all the wreaths.

The article posted about her turning herself in states that it was found not far from the cemetery. So it appears this lousy human being is not only a thief, but also a litterbug. She is also apparently too dim to come up with a better excuse as to why she took it other than that a dog was running loose:confused:

With the family of the deceased boy reporting past thefts, I have to wonder if they know this woman at all and if she has some sort of sick vendetta against them, or if she just hates these types of mementos in general.

[VinylTurnip]

@SmellMyWort

She is also apparently too dim to come up with a better excuse as to why she took it other than that a dog was running loose:confused:

Maybe it was a stuffed dog.

[Macca26]

@Ranchoth

…so, for the record, if I’m on a stroll around lunchtime, and I pass a shrine to Ganesha, is it OK if I nab a piece of fruit or two for a snack? I mean, it’s not like he needs it.

Forgive my ignorance and hijacking, but isn’t the idea that people are supposed to eat the food offered at these shrines? Especially people who are without food themselves?

[Ranchoth]

@Macca26

Forgive my ignorance and hijacking, but isn’t the idea that people are supposed to eat the food offered at these shrines? Especially people who are without food themselves?

My cursory research indicated that the food is left for the deities for “a while” to satisfy their “spiritual” hunger, and then distributed by priests—or sold—as a “sanctified” food.

But heck, there are other places to get a snack, too. Or a paperweight.

[levdrakon]

I wouldn’t have a problem with cemeteries donating things to charity. I don’t get to decide whether other peoples’ unattended items are my charity.