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Prince · 01-08-2004, 10:06 PM

When I was 18 years old, I made the mistake of trying to lift a CD out of a relatively big store (kinda like the Finnish equivalent of WalMart...). You'd think an 18 year old would know better, but I guess not. Anywho, I had no income at the time and this new CD had come out (yeah I'll admit it, it was a Prince disc...) and I just had to have it. Fuck the consequences. I looked at it and looked at it on the shelf, and eventually took it. I didn't pocket it, but I walked around in the store and put it on a shelf next to some boots or whatever, and went elsewhere to pretend to check out other items.

I came back in a bit, did this again, or something like that, and after about 45 minutes since I had first touched the damn thing, I took it with me to one of those booths where you can try clothes on. The disc had a plastic thing on it that contained the chip that would set the alarm off, so I tried to pry that off. Within about 2 minutes since I got in the booth, a middle-aged man, in his forties or fifties, walks in abruptly, and scares the shit out of me. I remember I tried to quickly act as if I had just been trying something on and he had interrupted me, rudely, but he wasn't buying it. I had the disc behind my back, and he kept reaching for it, asking me, "whatcha got there? hmm? whatcha got there?". He then had me follow him through the store to this little office he had next to the information desk. Man I was almost pissing my pants.

He had me sit down next to his desk, and he did this speech that I can't even remember. But he made it obvious that no one gets away with anything on HIS shift. In a moment, a security guard walked in, he was a younger man, in his maybe late twenties or early thirties. The older man explained to him what had happened, and the younger man took the CD and looked at it, as in appraising the value of the item I had tried to lift and whether it was really valuable to flush your future down the toilet for. The older man then proceeded to ask me for my personal information. He wanted my parents' number, but at this point I was living at my grandparents' vacant house, so I told them as much. He then asked me how old I was, and I said 18, which was true. He seemed extremely surprised (I looked younger, always have looked younger than my age). He wanted a photo ID and got my driver's license.

He then proceeded to tell me, that because I am 18, this will make a permanent record. It will also ensure that I will not be able to get a job at a public office, such as for a county, city, the government etc. The younger man eventually went off to do his duties elsewhere. The older man continued to ask me if I had any other things with me. I had left my bag in these lockers in the lobby. He asked me if I had stolen items in my bag, and I truthfully replied that I didn't.

He looked at the CD. The plastic thing around the CD (not the jewel case) was a bit broken. The jewel case had some minor damage to it, consequently. He said that he wasn't going to call the police. He said he had to write an incident report, but it would not go to the cops. He continued to say that he wanted me to consider this a lesson and an opportunity. He said the item could probably still be sold, so the damages were minimal. And that the damage that I had done would be nothing compared to the damage this event would do to my life, if reported. He told me I was free to go.

I've never shoplifted again. The opportunities have been there, but I haven't done it, and it isn't out of fear of getting caught... No, it's something more deeply rooted. I learned a lesson that day indeed, and am even now almost a decade later quite grateful for the break I was given.

Have you ever shoplifted? Did you get caught? I'd like to hear about it.

01-08-2004, 10:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	Shoplifting. When I was 18 years old, I made the mistake of trying to lift a CD out of a relatively big store (kinda like the Finnish equivalent of WalMart...). You'd think an 18 year old would know better, but I guess not. Anywho, I had no income at the time and this new CD had come out (yeah I'll admit it, it was a Prince disc...) and I just had to have it. Fuck the consequences. I looked at it and looked at it on the shelf, and eventually took it. I didn't pocket it, but I walked around in the store and put it on a shelf next to some boots or whatever, and went elsewhere to pretend to check out other items. I came back in a bit, did this again, or something like that, and after about 45 minutes since I had first touched the damn thing, I took it with me to one of those booths where you can try clothes on. The disc had a plastic thing on it that contained the chip that would set the alarm off, so I tried to pry that off. Within about 2 minutes since I got in the booth, a middle-aged man, in his forties or fifties, walks in abruptly, and scares the shit out of me. I remember I tried to quickly act as if I had just been trying something on and he had interrupted me, rudely, but he wasn't buying it. I had the disc behind my back, and he kept reaching for it, asking me, "whatcha got there? hmm? whatcha got there?". He then had me follow him through the store to this little office he had next to the information desk. Man I was almost pissing my pants. He had me sit down next to his desk, and he did this speech that I can't even remember. But he made it obvious that no one gets away with anything on HIS shift. In a moment, a security guard walked in, he was a younger man, in his maybe late twenties or early thirties. The older man explained to him what had happened, and the younger man took the CD and looked at it, as in appraising the value of the item I had tried to lift and whether it was really valuable to flush your future down the toilet for. The older man then proceeded to ask me for my personal information. He wanted my parents' number, but at this point I was living at my grandparents' vacant house, so I told them as much. He then asked me how old I was, and I said 18, which was true. He seemed extremely surprised (I looked younger, always have looked younger than my age). He wanted a photo ID and got my driver's license. He then proceeded to tell me, that because I am 18, this will make a permanent record. It will also ensure that I will not be able to get a job at a public office, such as for a county, city, the government etc. The younger man eventually went off to do his duties elsewhere. The older man continued to ask me if I had any other things with me. I had left my bag in these lockers in the lobby. He asked me if I had stolen items in my bag, and I truthfully replied that I didn't. He looked at the CD. The plastic thing around the CD (not the jewel case) was a bit broken. The jewel case had some minor damage to it, consequently. He said that he wasn't going to call the police. He said he had to write an incident report, but it would not go to the cops. He continued to say that he wanted me to consider this a lesson and an opportunity. He said the item could probably still be sold, so the damages were minimal. And that the damage that I had done would be nothing compared to the damage this event would do to my life, if reported. He told me I was free to go. I've never shoplifted again. The opportunities have been there, but I haven't done it, and it isn't out of fear of getting caught... No, it's something more deeply rooted. I learned a lesson that day indeed, and am even now almost a decade later quite grateful for the break I was given. Have you ever shoplifted? Did you get caught? I'd like to hear about it. __________________ Who is John Galt?