London - Once it may have been seen as straightforward pilfering. Now, however, it seems slipping a hotel shampoo into your suitcase or secretly using someone else’s wifi is perfectly normal.
Unsecured internet and items in hotel rooms topped a list of things seen as acceptable to steal in a recent survey.
Those taking part in the research also had no qualms about taking pens from Ikea and Argos stores and fruit from supermarkets.
The survey asked 1,000 adults what they felt they could steal without a guilty conscience.
More than 90 percent said they would happily raid hotel rooms for freebies, while 88 percent thought it was acceptable to access a neighbour’s network if it was not password-protected.
A total of 55 percent said they would pocket restaurant condiments without remorse and more than a third said they would take home a pub beer glass after a night out.
A sweet-toothed 17 percent confessed to helping themselves to the pick ’n’ mix counter without paying. Around one in ten said they would sample supermarket fruit for free.
Pens from Ikea, Ladbrokes and Argos were named by eight percent as items they would steal. The workplace was also seen as an opportunity for free stationery with 27 percent admitting they often took pens, notepads and envelopes from their employer.
Nearly a quarter said they would happily pilfer a colleague’s tea and coffee supplies.
A spokesman for Paintballing.co.uk, which carried out the survey, said: “Everyone loves a freebie but it seems the lines between what is intended as a complimentary giveaway and what is someone else’s property isn’t always clear. It seems many of us believe we can help ourselves to all manner of things.” - Daily Mail