Oh I wholeheartedly agree. Think before you act and make an educated decision. Life lessons you learn when you're a kid doing stupid things. Obviously you're not going to apply these to the very basic decisions in life, but I would hope most people would think before acting when taking property that is not theirs and there is no 100% sign showing that the bike is free for the taking. I have no problem taking a bike out of a dumpster/trash after asking the nearby neighbors. However, taking a bike that was locked up just because some villains got to it first and it's been sitting there for a arbitrary amount of days is not on my to do list.

Thinking about something doesn't make it wrong, but if you have to think long and hard, post on a forum, seek approval from others, that may or may not be a sign pointing you in the direction of "just walk away".