my earliest memory of commiting theft may or may not be my own....perhaps the memory itself has been borrowed without permission? i'm not sure. i remember apologizing tearfully over the looming formica lip of a convenience store counter, my mother looming, master of ceremonies. flat gumslab wide as a candy bar, white sugardust and standard pinksmell. i climbed into the passenger seat clutching the gum, "where did you get that?" mother asked. shortly thereafter she's hand-leading me back in. i don't remember the clerk, except that s/he had kindly accepted my guilty apology and not made an issue of the tears. [unspoken:] pardon, but could you help teach my kid something for a moment? sure, i'm obligated. thanks, i'm sure you know the drill, act serious and disappointed while my kid cries and absorbs the rules. no problem. [/unspoken] did it actually happen? i don't know.