A good egg goes bad (and it's all Cadbury's fault)

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Well, it finally happened.

Cadbury Eggs have turned me into a felon.

I'm not proud of it.

There's not much to be proud of when your addiction to a chocolate egg with cream filling leads you to a life of crime. It's not a surprise. The addiction is genetic. My sister once went on a Cadbury bender and ate 20 of those buggers in a weekend.

Thank goodness they're only available a few weeks out of the year. Otherwise who knows what would happen?

My sister would probably be in a diabetic coma. I'd probably be in jail.

I only meant to pop in at a local store on Tuesday, buy some make-up, airplane stickers and Easter supplies and be on my merry way.

When I saw the display of individually wrapped Cadbury Eggs, I decided to buy four -- two caramels, two creams -- one for each member of my family.

Then I headed to the check-out, and the cashier began ringing up my items.

But the cream eggs wouldn't scan. So, the cashier asked if I would grab another egg -- one with a clear bar code -- from the display behind me.

I handed her a good one, watched her scan it, and as I started writing my check, she bagged up the purchases.

All of a sudden, she turned back to her register and said, "Oh."

I glanced up. She looked at me, puzzled.

"How many of those candies did you buy?" she asked.

"I put four on the counter," I said as I ripped the check from my wallet.

"Well, I forgot to ring one up, so you'll owe me a little extra cash."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't have any cash on me." (I restrained myself from adding, That's why I'm writing a check, duh!)

She shrugged. "Then you'll have to put one back."

"I have four people in my family. I picked up four eggs for a reason."

She turned back to her register, looked blankly at it.

"Just add the other egg," I said after watching her fluster in silence for several moments. "I'll use a different check." (Frustrating, yes. But not a big deal in the grand scheme of life.)

She punched a couple of buttons, gave me a new total, and after I paid, I went on my merry way.

I didn't realize my crime until I came home and began putting items away.

You know that extra egg the cashier asked me to grab so she could get the bar code? Yeah, she put that in my bag, too.

So I came home with five Cadbury Eggs. I only paid for four.

And I'm not giving the extra one back.

Go ahead, officer. Cuff me. I'm guilty.