Sparrow Market has been a neighbor to Community for 30 years, providing a place for students to buy good food and hang out during lunch. However, in the last few weeks, several Community students have been accused of stealing.

“One kid just grabbed a chocolate milk and just walked to the back table and sat down, said he was going to pay for it,” said manager Ray Campise. The owner of the market, Bob Sparrow, called Kevin, CHS Community assistant, who came over and talked to the student. “Clearly he wasn’t going to pay for it,” Campise said. There were at least two or three other incidents like this one.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Campise said, likening the theft to breaking and entering your neighbor’s house. “You guys come in here every day for four years. Why would you steal?”

The answer to that question is unclear, but theft is never a good choice. Sparrow Market is, as Campise said, a neighbor and a local business that we should support, not take advantage of.

The employees at Sparrow are starting to get pissed. The next time something like this happens, it won’t be Kevin they call — it’ll be the police. However, Campise thinks it’s unlikely that this could lead to a ban on Community students in Kerrytown.

“We make too much money off of you guys to ban you for five bucks worth of coke,” he said. However, trouble with the police is a more serious potential issue than the loss of a lunchtime coffee.