Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t understand the logic behind this, so can anyone explain why one can eat the sample food given free at a grocery store, but if you decide to eat it outside the door, the store can (and did) call security?

I just learned this last week while shopping in town. A couple of vendors told me that a woman was caught with some free food samples given to her. Apparently, she had put the stuff into her bag, but when she was leaving the store, she was stopped by security and searched.

I did argue with the two vendors who told me the story, telling them that the samples were given free and if that lady wanted to eat it outside, she had the right to do so. Maybe she was taking it home to feed someone hungry.

I am sure it must have been humiliating for her to put those free samples inside her handbag, but hunger is a very horrible thing.

To make the issue worse for me, that same day the store was giving away free laundry detergent.

Was I supposed to take that sample home or bring my dirty laundry into the store and wash it there?
Bruna O’Neill
Simi Valley