Have you ever shoplifted/stole something you didn't need after the age of 10ish?

[Tap]

Another post makes me wonder this.

 

Have you ever shoplifted or stole something you didn't really need? I primarily mean from a store, but any purposeful, tangible, theft that you think fits can count.

 

Pretty simple...yes or no (okay I will put in an other but try not to use it LOL)

 

I am not talking about accidental theft of goods or services (something you didn't mean to take but didn't return/pay for either).

 

I am not talking about food for a someone who is starving.

 

I am not talking about being 3yo and taking candy.

 

 

 

 

 

Just plain 'ole, I want it, I am taking it-shoplifting.

 

Even just once counts....yes, I will make it anonymous. :lol:

[Truscifi]

Nope, not since I was 5 and stole (of course) candy and my grandfather made me take it back and apologize to the manager in front of lots of customers. Lesson learned. :glare:

[LibraryLover]

Not that I can recall. I even hand extra change back to this day. I do remember taking a couple of penny candies at the store when I was really small...maybe 3 or 4. I need to ask mom. But I was really little.

[Daisy]

Yes. I ran the snack shop at my christian school when I was in Junior High. I ate several bags of 50 cent chips without paying for them (I never had snack money). I felt so horribly guilty that I confessed to the principal and got a HUGE talking to. I think they went easy on me because I was so hard on myself.

[Tangerine]

I don't remember ever shoplifting. I have a terrible memory, but I'm hoping I would remember retail theft. I'm sure I've kept extra change though. But taking something from a store, no.

Edited April 21, 2010 by Tangerine
I didn't mean to quote someone. Sorry if that was weirdly confusing.

[Pretty in Pink]

When I was a teen I worked at Subway and I used to make myself free sandwiches. It's not shoplifting, but it's still stealing.

[kalanamak]

I lifted a very cheap candle on a dare, not because I "wanted it". I think I was 13.

 

I've worked on many counters, and some "really nice regulars" palm little things off the counter, like a tic or something. Not people who were broke...just a thrill, I think.

[Caitilin]

Not at that age; I did snitch some candy several times when I was about 7-8, but not other than that.

[Thea]

I'm the other. I inadvertently stole loaf of bread. I was holding it after unloading my cart--dh and I were talking with the cashier, she finishes, dh pays, pushes the cart----we get to the car, I put the bread in the car, load the groceries...we get home and them- BAM--it dawns on me. I never paid for the loaf of bread I was holding. I did not go back to the store as we lived quite a ways away. I still felt bad about it so the next time that store overcharged me for something, I didn't say anything.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I said no, though I did find a magazine once that I did not pay for. The thing is, I found it months later, in my freezer along with a roast I had stuck in there still in the grocery bag. I purposefully did not take the magazine back because it was out of date. But I don't consider that as theft because obviously the checker put someone else's magazine in there by mistake.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Have you ever shoplifted or stole something you didn't really need?

 

I am not talking about accidental theft of goods or services (something you didn't mean to take but didn't return/pay for either).

 

I am not talking about food for a someone who is starving.

 

Just plain 'ole, I want it, I am taking it-shoplifting.

 

 

 

 

I've actually done all three kinds. (Gasp!)

 

Food for the hungry: Our family had it kind of rough when we were teens (long story), and we were hungry. My brother and I did the grocery shopping (with food stamps), and we did take a pound of bologna and some granola bars. It was just a short time that we were in this condition, and I felt terrible about it. I still think about it all these 35 years later.

 

Accidental theft: I bought a stainless steel mixing bowl at Target a few years ago. Well, I thought it was a single mixing bowl -- a very heavy mixing bowl. ;) I used it that way several times, and washed it several times, before it suddenly came apart into two bowls a few weeks later! They were squished together so tightly that I never noticed they were two bowls. I was shocked and felt terrible. But, I never did anything about it.

 

I went through a weird time as a teen (about the same time we were hungry, now that I think about it) when I used to shoplift keychains. Nothing expensive. Just interesting keychains. I'd give them to friends as presents. I think I did it about 3 times (three keychains). Hmmm. Haven't thought about that in awhile. I'm still not sure why I did that, except that I wanted to give my friends presents, and I had zero money. I'm glad I stopped. I've been "clean" for 35 years, now!

[Sarah CB]

Well, I'll be the black sheep on the board. I was a terrible teenager. Really. Horrid. Shoplifting is one of the more minor acts I engaged in during my teen years.

 

I shoplifted snacks from the corner store and I also went through a phase of shoplifting clothes and hairspray and whatever else I needed/wanted. A lot of my friends did as well.

 

Curious...why do you ask?

[OrganicAnn]

I answered no, but in thinking about it... I once went to a restaurant with some high school friends and we didn't have enough money to leave a tip or a full tip (its been too long ago we might have left a $1 when we should have left $3 or something like that). We paid for the food. If it happened today I would consider it stealing from the waitress. Of course that was in the days before we had credit cards and so for kids we probably just had limited money didn't think about taxes or tip when we ordered.

[newlifemom]

When I was 19 I was on a loss prevention team at a retail store where I worked. I was told to 'steal' as much as I could to see if any of the employees would catch me. It was kind of fun, b/c I wouldn't do that irl. Just the other day I rolled my shopping cart to the car and found a box of bobby pins that I hadn't paid for. I sent my daughter back in with $ to pay for it. A couple of years ago, I would have gone home and felt bad. Ah, I love having an older child now. :D

[Renee in NC]

Well, I'll be the black sheep on the board. I was a terrible teenager. Really. Horrid. Shoplifting is one of the more minor acts I engaged in during my teen years.

 

I shoplifted snacks from the corner store and I also went through a phase of shoplifting clothes and hairspray and whatever else I needed/wanted. A lot of my friends did as well.

 

Curious...why do you ask?

 

I'll join you. I went through a pretty horrid phase from 12-14. Looking back now, I think I wanted someone to catch me so that my parents would pay attention to me.:glare::001_huh: Or maybe I was just selfish and greedy. Whatever the case, it stopped at 14 and I have tried to be scrupulously hionest since then.

[Jennifer in MI]

When I was 19 I was on a loss prevention team at a retail store where I worked. I was told to 'steal' as much as I could to see if any of the employees would catch me. It was kind of fun, b/c I wouldn't do that irl. Just the other day I rolled my shopping cart to the car and found a box of bobby pins that I hadn't paid for. I sent my daughter back in with $ to pay for it. A couple of years ago, I would have gone home and felt bad. Ah, I love having an older child now. :D

 

That would've been a really fun job!!!!

 

I was once given something stolen. I was living, for the summer, in a fraternity house in Boston for a summer job. The people I lived with were AWESOME!!! They were all MIT students and I was the only Vassar student there. The night before I left, a bunch of the guys went out and stole the "Vassar" street sign for me. I felt SO bad, but didn't want to make them feel bad by not taking it. KWIM? I ended up mailing it back to the city about a year later!!

[mysticamethyst]

I will join the black sheep group. I was a horrible teen. I stopped around 14.

[Peela]

When I was living on very little money for years, from my late teens to early twenties, I did a few things- nothing major but still stealing. I used to pick roses off people's rose plants regularly,usually at night time, and usually just what hung over the fence to the pathway, in order to have flowers at home. And once, I stole a used bra from a 2nd hand store- I just tried it on and then put my clothes back on top. I told my then boyfriend and he was very upset with me and I never did anything like that again (and I have spent thousands in 2nd hand shops in the years since then).

[lionfamily1999]

I'm the big mean Mom that sent two of my kids (at two different times) back into stores to fess up and pay. Even more mean, I wouldn't let them keep the things (a ring pop and a pack of stickers) they stole. When I was about 4/5 my mom would shop at Giant. She'd park my brother and I in the aisles with all the barrels. We'd snack while she was shopping and then tell her what we ate so she could put some more into bags. When we got to the cashier she'd tell them we'd snacked off the bags (so they could charge her for it). Now, I pick up a bag of fruit, allow snacking and then tell them to add it to the weight of the fruit :p

[Sasharowan]

In 6th grade and being young and naive, got dared into taking a pack of gum. By the time I got through scaring myself, my mom got through yelling, and the embarassment of apologizing to the guy behind the counter, I never did anything like that again. Bonus, I found better friends after being grounded so long that the other "friends" forgot about me.

[unsinkable]

I'll join you. I went through a pretty horrid phase from 12-14. Looking back now, I think I wanted someone to catch me so that my parents would pay attention to me.:glare::001_huh: Or maybe I was just selfish and greedy. Whatever the case, it stopped at 14 and I have tried to be scrupulously hionest since then.

 

That's why I'd get drunk. :lol:

 

It's not funny. But it is. But it isn't.

 

It's funny b/c they were too drunk to notice.

[Renee in NC]

That's why I'd get drunk. :lol:

 

It's not funny. But it is. But it isn't.

 

It's funny b/c they were too drunk to notice.

 

So were mine - they were partying hard until I was older. Now they have grown up. At least my brother benefited from this - he is 9 years younger than I am and grew up with a fairly stable, normal family (and stayed out of trouble!)

[Ruby]

I stole earrings from a Macy's when I was fourteen. I was not a bad kid though. Very immature. My mom got a new job about two hours away and I was living with grandma and finishing summer school for the class I had flunked freshman year. As a result I had a friend whose mom worked in downtown Sacramento and we would hitch a ride to downtown at the mall and hang out for a few hours while she worked. As a result we spent way too much time browsing through lots of stores with no cash for a lot of the summer. The temptation became too much and we ended up stealing a pair of earrings. I in my stupidness thought it was pretty funny that no one seemed to be hanging around near the jewelry section. (Didn't even consider the cameras in the ceiling) We thought we were scott free as we walked out the front door until a gentleman from behind said excuse me ladies. We were taken into the security room where I immediately began to cry. They were really mean and scary but after awhile I think they realized this was my first offense. They called my aunt to come and get me and my mom had to pay a fine to keep me out of court. And yes I was grounded for a year and lost all of my moms trust. It's hard when you are young and see lots of nice things and have no way of getting them. My mom was a single mom and we only ever shopped at Kmart. I think deep down I just wanted something nice for once. Neve stole again though. Ruby

[MissKNG]

Yes, when I was 16 or 17 years old, I stole a necklace from Spencer's in the mall. I felt SOOOO terrible and guilty doing it that I threw it in the garbage within minutes. I never shoplifted again!

[unsinkable]

So were mine - they were partying hard until I was older. Now they have grown up. At least my brother benefited from this - he is 9 years younger than I am and grew up with a fairly stable, normal family (and stayed out of trouble!)

 

It is nice to read that people can change.

 

My parents died still drinking but I think they might have been getting to a better place before they died...

[Laurie4b]

Oops. I checked "no" then remembered that on the day of a championship game, some of my teammates and I went out to breakfast, took silverware for some bizarre reason, and were late to school. So yes, I stole cheap silverware for no reason other than we were getting pysched up for the game. Made sense at the time... :001_huh: And I was a goody-two-shoes for sure. (Had never been late to school either.) I guess I didn't think of it when you asked about stealing because I didn't even want it and had not gone in with that idea, but once someone else suggested it, I took it too and the restaurant didn't have it anymore...

[Suzanne in ABQ]

It is nice to read that people can change.

 

My parents died still drinking but I think they might have been getting to a better place before they died...

 

 

My dad died at 53 from cirrhosis of the liver. I don't think he was drinking anymore, but he had already pretty much pickled himself by then. He only weighed 76 lbs when he died. He couldn't eat at all (that's why I don't think he was drinking). Very sad at the end. Very violent and insane in the earlier years.

 

It's freaky that I'm almost as old as my dad was when he died.

[Tap]

Curious...why do you ask?

 

Mainly to prove something to myself that I have always thought LOL

 

My parents thought I was sweet, innocent and naive. They had no clue who I was in real life. In the recent thread about kids hanging out at the mall, I said that I wouldn't let my kids, because I used to shoplift and I don't want them tempted. My experience growing up was that most kids make some bad decisions growing up and that a large portion of the kids I know, knowing stole something at least once in their lives.

 

I wanted to see if this was true for the general population or just in my experiences. I have ran around with the very, very wealthy and the very, very poor. And, honestly, I saw it in every walk of life.

 

The numbers in this pole have pretty much confirmed what I have always thought. I have been watching the averages and it has ranged from 25-50% of respondents saying "yes, I have stole at least once".

 

I trust my kids to make both good and bad decisions. But, I also know that temptation mixed with opportunity can let a kid make a bad decision that they wouldn't have made if they had to do some planning and put forth some effort to arrange the events.

[Tree House Academy]

I did when I was 17. I was dating a guy who thought it was the coolest thing ever. We stole LOTS of stuff...not just small stuff (hundreds of dollars worth of phone cards from the place where I worked, along with cigarettes and perfume, clothes, CDs, car seat covers...whatever I wanted..). :( :( :( It was terrible as I think back on it. I was so easily swayed, it was scary. However, the man I dated after him saw me steal something ONE TIME and gave me hell over it. After that, I never stole anything else and have not or would not ever again. I am sad that I made such a conscious decision at such a late age, though. :(

Edited April 21, 2010 by Tree House Academy

[lionfamily1999]

I think deep down I just wanted something nice for once. Neve stole again though. Ruby

:grouphug: Gads, I know that feeling. I didn't steal, but I still get stomach aches when I go to the mall. I hated that feeling of seeing all this great stuff that I could never hope to have.

Mainly to prove something to myself that I have always thought LOL

 

My parents thought I was sweet, innocent and naive. They had no clue who I was in real life. In the recent thread about kids hanging out at the mall, I said that I wouldn't let my kids, because I used to shoplift and I don't want them tempted. My experience growing up was that most kids make some bad decisions growing up and that a large portion of the kids I know, knowing stole something at least once in their lives.

 

I wanted to see if this was true for the general population or just in my experiences. I have ran around with the very, very wealthy and the very, very poor. And, honestly, I saw it in every walk of life.

 

The numbers in this pole have pretty much confirmed what I have always thought. I have been watching the averages and it has ranged from 25-50% of respondents saying "yes, I have stole at least once".

 

I trust my kids to make both good and bad decisions. But, I also know that temptation mixed with opportunity can let a kid make a bad decision that they wouldn't have made if they had to do some planning and put forth some effort to arrange the events.

My parents thought the opposite of me. I was lazy, mean, sneaky and underhanded. The irony is I wasn't. Man, I could go anywhere and I had plenty of opportunities to steal, but my first thought was always that I simply couldn't because it was wrong.

 

How funny, I was always concerned with doing the "right" thing and my parents were positive I was headed to hell in a handbasket...

I did when I was 17. I was dating a guy who thought it was the coolest thing ever. We stole LOTS of stuff...not just small stuff (hundreds of dollars worth of phone cards from the place where I worked, along with cigarettes and perfume, clothes, CDs, car seat covers...whatever I wanted..). :( :( :( It was terrible as I think back on it. I was so easily swayed, it was scary. However, the man I dated after him saw me steal something ONE TIME and gave me hell over it. After that, I never stole anything else and have not or would not ever again. I am sad that I made such a conscious decision at such a late age, though. :(

The older I get the higher I raise the bar for actual maturity (it's hovering at 33 right now). It doesn't surprise me that a 17 yo would be swayed by her larger-than-life-super-cool boyfriend, what does surprise me is how many people can stand fast ;) especially in those areas that are morally grey (and that is an individual thing, what's grey for one is black/white for another).

[fivetails]

Well, I'll be the black sheep on the board. I was a terrible teenager. Really. Horrid. Shoplifting is one of the more minor acts I engaged in during my teen years.

 

 

:iagree:

 

 

Card Carrying Member of the Black Sheep Club here as well. :laugh: