Let's Talk Catholic

Today I had an experience that epitomizes what most would consider the "Good Ol' Catholic Guilt".

Let me preface by saying that it also, on the other hand, makes me feel like I am a moralistic person, for the most part (I say that because no one is perfect, and if you read this frequently, you know I don't always have the most pure, kind thoughts.) I don't intentionally go out of my way to do something that is sneaky or wrong. It just so happens, though, that this time my Blonde Polish Naivete put me in an awkward situation.

Here we go.

Today was the day my mom and I went to Ikea and then to the Base, because it was on the way home and I had errands to run. So, first I bought my ticket to Six Flags, and picked up some info for Disney. Which, BTW, is MUY MUY TRES EXPENSIVO. Yikes! Then, after the MWR, we went into the Commissary. And here's where the Catholic Guilt comes into play. I needed milk, sugar, cereal bars, you know, regular middle-of-the-week-pick-ups. And my mom saw a few things she wanted too. Like Kleenex, water, steaks & chips. Jus things she meant to get and thought it would be easy to grab there. No biggie, right? Well, wrong! In my naivete, it never occurred to me that bringing someone to the Grocery Store on the Base and letting them buy items with you is against the rules. I mean, now that I know that, it makes sense. But, boy was my face red when the lady was all like "Can I see your ID" (and she said it soooo nasty too, like she knew what was happening) to my mom and my mom was all like, "I'm with her." And the lady was like "I can't let you pay for that without a Military Card." So we had to put our bill together, and then my mom asked if I could give the lady cash for her stuff and pay on my card for my stuff. To which the lady bit back by saying "I can't tell you that. I VALUE my job." Whoa!! Now, I know now that what I did was wrong, but c'mon! Could you honestly not tell that it was an honest mistake??? Was there really a reason for her to be so mean about it? Probably so, I mean, I'm sure that there are oogads of people who do it every day and know it's wrong but sneak it anyways. But, really, what if my mom lived with me, or was up visiting (it IS vacation week) and she was just trying to be nice and buy stuff for me?


It sure did fire up the guilt though. And that, IMO, is the hardest part about being Catholic. The guilt you feel for doing the wrong thing, even when you didn't realize it was wrong...

Sorry, Commissary Lady. I hope you still have your job.