DEAR ABBY: Our retirement center runs a trip to the shopping center once a week. Recently I noticed one of the residents put a tube of lipstick in her purse instead of in her shopping cart. I was behind her in the checkout line and saw that she didn't declare the lipstick. Since then, I've been watching her. The week before last, she slipped a bottle of fingernail polish into her bag. Last week, it was toothpaste.
If I speak to her about her pilfering, I know she will deny it and say all sorts of unpleasant things. Still, I am uncomfortable now that I know she is shoplifting.
Shall I tell the store manager? Or maybe tell the other village residents? Or just mind my own business? -- IN A QUANDARY
DEAR IN: It would be a kindness to tell the woman privately that you saw her shoplift the lipstick, nail polish and toothpaste. Tell her you fear that if she does it again, she will be caught and asked never to enter that store again -- or worse yet, arrested. This would be not only embarrassing, but a blow to her family -- and it would reflect badly on the retirement center.