Caught with your red hand in the cookie jar...

In class this morning, a friend of mine -- who is fond of stealing -- reached across me and grabbed a scarf laying in an empty seat. After inspecting it and deciding it wasn't lice-ridden, he asked me if I wanted it, or if he could keep it. Now, why he asked me this requires a little setting-up. A few months ago, while this friend and I, as well as another mutual friend, were walking back to school after lunch. We came upon an Independent beanie, laying smack-dab in the middle of the road. My friend, the thief suggested I take it. Seeing as how it was probably lost to its owner forever -- I doubt the owner would have thought to look for it in the street; I certainly wouldn't have -- I snagged it and threw it in my bag. To my sticky-fingered chum, I guess this incident served, to a certain extent, as a test. The fact that I did take the hat meant, I suppose, that I shared my friend's penchant for "appropriation." So, consequently, he offered the scarf to me. I got a new scarf for Xmas, though, so I declined.
My friend unzipped his bag, balled up the scarf and was about to throw it into his bag when a guy walked up and said, "Put that back." Now, we could all instantly tell that the scarf was his. We could also smell the palpable embarassment filling the air. My friend was obviously mortified, which made sense. I've been caught mid-theft before, by the owner of a skateboard I was riding away with on my bike. It was like a kind of defeat. There's nothing you can say that eases -- even a little -- the impact of such obvious, incontrovertable failure, or the resultant shame. Of course, when I was caught with the skateboard, I was able to just ride off. Unfortunately, my friend didn't have this option; he had to sit basically next to the guy for an hour. I told him after class that I wasn't just sympathetic, but fully empathetic. But it was still f^&$%*# hilarious. And, as obvious as my friend's embarassment was, what was equally obvious was the relief my other friend and I felt that it hadn't happened to us.