Thinking out loud

"Wal-Mart called the Sheriff's Department to report that a couple had made a purchase that could be used for the manufacture of methamphetamine." - quote from this week's local paper

If you have a large family and it is cold/flu season, I recommend purchasing your medicinal remedies on multiple trips to the store rather than all at once.

I wonder how many types of "odd" purchases get reported to local authorities. For instance, if you were to purchase 27 bottles of hair-spray at one time, does that get reported? Or if you buy 18 boxes of breathe-right strips, does that land you on the Sheriff's radar? What about 21 bottles of windshield wiper fluid, or 6 gallons of skim milk?

I mean, why make Wal-Mart employees call the Sheriff? Why not give them a radio with the law enforcement frequency and have them relay all suspicious behavior all day long?

"Sheriff, this is Officer Wally, this bearded fellow just bought 3 cans of frozen orange juice concentrate. He has a minister's collar, but I think it's just to throw us off. We might need to handle this one as a possible felony-in-progress."