Let's Steal the Bike

My 8 yo daughter came over and said she wanted a new cycle. She was clear that she didn’t want an “ordinary” cycle. What does “ordinary” mean, I asked. She couldn’t quite articulate it, but I finally realized a bike from any place other than a Decathlon store is deemed “ordinary” in her snobbish circle of friends.

We were mulling whether the next cycle size would fit in the car, and so we went and borrowed the (next size) bike from her friend downstairs. To see if it would fit in the car. Surprisingly, and to my daughter’s immense relief, it fit. Then a wicked thought occurred to me: “Hop in”, I told her, “Let’s go live in a new house from today. We can take your friend’s cycle with us. She won’t know your new address and we’ll get a cycle for free”.

It never amuses me that at such moments, she’s still never quite sure if I am kidding. I let her stew in the suspense, then got in the car, had her join me, and turned on the ignition. She had an alarmed look on her face. Taking pity, I turned off the ignition, we got out of the car, took out her friend’s bike and returned it.

Nice, I thought, she has a sense of right and wrong, good and bad. I had rejoiced too soon. Later, when I asked her why she was worried when I turned on the ignition, I learnt she was thinking several steps ahead in a very rational manner. “Look”, she said, “if we had stolen my friend’s bike, her dad would have lodged a complaint with the cops. The cops would have found us and we’d both go to jail”.

So it wasn’t any sense of right or wrong, just a fear of the long arm of the law (sigh)…