Prince

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.

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Who is John Galt?

floydthebarber

Great story. I've never had the urge to take something out of a store without paying, just the thought makes me nervous.

I did know a guy that almost lived off of what he ripped off. He could walk out of store with a pair of ski boots without being seen. Most of his meals were ripped off from the local supermarket and he rarely paid for the clothes on his back.
The last I heard of the guy was that he got cought putting a false front on a bank machine about six years ago....

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wish you were here

jay-g

Ive shopped lifted like once in my life. I dont even remember what it was. Personally, im too much of a wimp to shoplift. I remember this one time my friend i was with got caught stealing a cd. He had to stay at the mall and i walked out thinking how glad i was not to have stole anything. That situation set the tone for me. Plus if i stole things, it would make me feel like a broke buster.

punx1325

I've never shop lifted, I was fortunate to always have cash or parents nice enough to give me money. Plus, I don't really ask for much. It was always stories like Prince's which kept me away from ever doing it.

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If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is....

Phaenx

When I was a kid, K-Mart, candy bar. Noone noticed but my mom when we got outside. She isn't as big on morals as my father is so she was just kind of "Hey, that's bad." and we drove off.

<- Smooth criminal.

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"I went shopping last night at like 1am. The place was empty and this old woman just making polite conversation said to me, 'where is everyone??' I replied, 'In bed, same place you and I should be!' Took me ten minutes to figure out why she gave me a dirty look." --Some guy

hu-man

Two or three times, when I was 11-12 years old. With a friend, he had one of those trolleys with a fake bottom. We peeled price tags off items his parents had bought in another supermarket, and stuck one to - get this - a bag of small uncooked beans. We needed them to use in our peashooter. We didn't get caught, so the next time we took a couple of bags of candy. Got away with it, so we took a little more next time. And got caught. I don't remember it much, but they wanted to phone our parents. I don't know if they did, though. Never heard from it.
Oh, and I stole something a bit later, too. A large candy bar right before a train trip. I was so guilty I couldn't eat it, so I had to throw out 2/3rds... never shoplifted since.

~springrain

yeah... when i was like 8 or 9... my friend and i each pocketed some gumballs or stupid other candy from the "penny candy" shelf at the drugstore (probably dating myself).

the store clerk saw us and quietly told me friends mom... she waited until we got to the car and then made us march back in and apolgize... i wanted to DIE.

just one of those life lessons...

wannabenakid247

You have to now and again. Just for the buzz of getting away with it. I wouldn't wanna get caught though. Its best just to walk out casually with it in your hand as if you've forgotten its there

lisa

Great story indeed! But I'll try beating you on it.........


I've shoplifted quite a lot when I was young, together with friends we would go to a mall just for the reason of stealing things, mostly I took small things like bracelets, earrings and other stuff that I actually didn't even wair once I had it. When I was about 15 or 16 I started to push the boundaries further and further. One day, me and my best friend stole for over 150$ on CD's, make-up and other stuff.

Anyway, one day, I was brought to a hold....

The worst part of it all was the location... it was in EuroDisney (Paris). Thé family-place, and I was caught shoplifting. It was a week after our big succes (>150$) so we felt like queens of the world!

It was almost closing time of the amusementparc and me and my friend hopped in quickly in a giftshop, looking for something to steal. If you've ever been to Disneyland you'll know that they only sell really stupid things like a pencil with the head of Donald Duck on it or a candy box from Winney the Pooh, but still, I wanted to steal something (just for the kick of it) So I took this REALLY STUPID little backsack (as big as your hand actually) with a mickey mouse on it. Honestly I don't know WHY I took it, for it was really stupid and I'd probably had dumped it right away when I got home...
Anyway, i saw that there was this guy who kept on looking at us, so I told my friend to go out of the shop, since there were tons of people drumming to get to the exit, we quickly were absorbed by the crowd and we'd figured we were safe.....
But then two "elderly" women came to us, asking if we spoke english, when we said yes, they nicely told us we were arrested!!!

The problem was, that we were there with a whole bus that was waiting for us to leave... Anyway, to make a long story a bit shorter... my friend was sent to go to the bus and bring her parents (mine were at home, totally unaware of the whole thing). In the meantime, they brought me to a Parisian prison, with a special police car, with siren and everything! Giving me a preach (which, because my french wasn't that good back then, I didn't totally understand)...

Anyway, it took a very long time before my friend and her mother found out where they had locked me up.... so i spent an hour or so in real prison cell, which was probably the lowest I've ever sunk!

Because I was still under 18 (I was 16 or so) they let me go after that, but I tell you, it left quite an impression and I have never stolen since!!!!!

ninety09

I never shoplifted, not even for candy or anything. If I did, I would really hate myself. It's wrong. I don't have any problems downloading mp3s though, weird :0

absorbentishe

Well, I'll admit that I've done it, but when I was much younger. I liked to chew during baseball (12 - 17), and the only way to get it was to take it. I think I only did this like two or three times a year, but I did it none the less. I would never consider it now, I just got lucky that I never got caught. I've certainly changed, and would not even think I could get away with it now.

I worked at a Kmart for a while during college, I wasn't the store detective, but I'd help out. It was so much fun trailing people that you knew took stuff then nabbing them as they walked out. I think that experience helped me to learn from my mistake.

Slims

I only snagged a couple of small things when I was young. I have since developed a case of ethics.

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"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence

tenchi069

No. Never felt the need to. If i wanted something I went to work, earned the money, and then went and bought it.

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Yalaynia

I did once just to see if I could get away with it. Kinda stupid but it was only once. I was about 13 at the time.

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lurkette

I was a sophomore in college, and I had a bit of a crush on a friend of mine who was a real wild child. She shoplifted all the time, was very rebellious, etc. I was dismayed by my own boring, by-the-book past, and wanted to impress her, so I decided to shoplift something from the campus store. I hit upon a disposeable fountain pen and one of those leather key chain wallet thingies. I made it out of the store without getting caught, but I was SO paranoid that they'd seen me do it and were just waiting to review the videotape and bring down the axe and expel me and fire me and post my guilty face all over campus. ACK!!!! This would explain my boring, by-the-book past, and my boring, by-the-book life ever since. That was my first, only, last experience shoplifting and I would never do it again. Not even to impress a girl.

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

Sho Nuff

Candy when I was a kid. Some comics and cds in my teens. Once I got an income I stopped.

But i was always a Robin Hood shoplifter. I got stuff for my friends too and always picked from large chains, never little mom and pop spots. I had morals you see.

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Prophecy

I remember once when I was real little, I'm talking younger than five here, that I grabbed a little bottle of candy from the shelf right below the cash register as my mother was checking out. The clerks didn't notice I had it and my mother didn't notice it till we were in the car and I was sitting in my sit eating it. *shrugs*

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La Disciplina È La Mia Spada,
La Fede È Il Mio Schermo,
Non salti Ciecamente In Incertezza,
E Potete Raccogliere Le Ricompense.

meembo

I don't remember doing it, but I can easily imagine that I did, knowing the crowd I was with

I'm sure it would have been along the lines of M&Ms or something -- my parents would have skinned me

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BuddyHawks

I don't know if this counts, but when I used to work at the grocery store, I would take things off the shlves and eat them.

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blkdmnd

No stealing. Too much guilt involved.

However, if the clerk makes an error and I get something for a greatly reduced price, I'll take it every time.

Kind of like stealing? Probably.

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World's King

My mom shoplifts a lot.


She'll walk out of the store with more in her pockets. I guess make-up is really expensive... so she always steals this same thing from the same store... my sister does it too. I only take things from stores like Hot Topic... They don't need my money.

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lurkette

Could you pick me up a pair of black and white striped tights next time you're in there? They don't need my money, either.

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"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

- Anatole France

skysooner

I won't condemn it, but I have never even really felt the urge. I was lucky in that I grew up in a comfortable home, so I always had pocket money.

Prince

Yeah. My home was a good one too, for the most part, but I was a huge music buff (if I had to give up either music or sex, I'm 99% sure sex'd have to go) and my parents didn't care for my choice of music (mostly Prince and other rather steamy funk). CDs back where I'm from were and are a little over $20 per CD (Prince's Crystal Ball 4-cd collection was over $90, bought it here in the States for ten bucks) so the temptation to steal was often there.

That's not a justification, just clearing up something I guess.

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Who is John Galt?

Kaos

When I was a teen, I think around 15-16 I had a major shoplifting problem. I'm embarassed to say this now, but I became an expert at shoplifting. Nothing was beyond my grasp.

Finally, I did get busted. In pretty much the same fashion as Prince. I was stealing a Cassette Single (can't remember which one) and I got caught. And in the same situation I was brought to a room, explained the situation, and then they finally let me go with a warning and told to never appear in that store again.

Scared me straight as the saying goes and well, I was so freaked out from the whole situation I never did go back to that store for almost a decade.

rockzilla

I took a couple of things here and there when I was 12 or 13. I got caught stealing something stupid like pens and notepads from a drugstore. They called my parents, and banned me from the store. They didn't press charges or anything though.
When my dad picked me up, all he said to me was "That was pretty stupid of you, hope you learned your lesson." and I did.

viper11885

Never have done it myself.

I work in sales so I know that there is a lot of shoplifting that goes on. Some of the stories are very surprising.

For instance, a co-worker told me that a customer took one of uniforms (the shirt w/ the logo) and put it on. Then the person proceeded to take stuff. Luckily, one of the managers caught the person. Don't know the penalty given or anything else. But I was really suprised that someone would go this far to steal stuff.

Prince

I think a person has to have some serious mental problems to go that far...either that or it's a frat boy who's been dared to pull some stupid shit. Then again, that's not too far from a mental problem, is it.

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Who is John Galt?

AnUnkind

When I was a kid I shoplifted some special waterproof matches. I was only around 13 at the time so the clerk wasn't going to let me buy them. I needed them to shove into a tennis ball to make a fireball thing... you know how it goes...

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yeah, you SHOULD feel stupid....

brandon11983

Never have, no satisfaction in it.

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Jesus Pimp

I used to steal in middle school and high school. I was really good at it. I nailed it down like a science. I studied survellence systems and metal detectors. I never got caught. Once I got to my senior of high school I pretty much stopped. Having a job to buy anything you want helps a lot.

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Holo

shoplifting allowed me to start another bad habit...smoking. At 14 I couldn't buy smokes so I lifted them. I also took candy and Vivarins since I only slept about 3 hours a day in my minor teens. I lifted a couple tapes here and there and a few misc items. Batteries for my Walkman were a regular item back then as well. My dad was a police officer so getting busted wasn't an option. I never did get caught for any of it but I realized I eventually would have a bad day and get busted, and Ireally didnt want to know what my dad would've done so I quit. Haven't stolen anything since then.

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I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince

jizzmasterp

I once stole 3 bath sphere thingys from the Body Shop when I was 5. They weren't bath bombs but they were the really small things that com in packs of 20 or larger and cost 10 cents individually. I got them to give to my mom for mother's day. She was furious when I gave them to her in the car. I was given a whole speech about a $500 fine. When i took them , i didn't even know that I had done something wrong.

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bermuDa

youthful indiscretions, got caught during a rather large caper and we'll just say i learned my lession (ie my birthday present that year was a lawyer). Never felt the urge to shoplift again...

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papermachesatan

Never shoplifted.

I tend to regard adult shoplifters as deadbeats, leeches on soceity, or people who need psychological help.

"They don't need my money"? Don't you know that losses like that add up? In any case, who the fuck are you to make that descision. You don't *need* anything from hot topic. Don't have the money for those trendy shirts or pants? Too bad. They aren't neccessities. Pants + Shirts from target/walmart/goodwill/etc. will keep you warm all the same.

What if everyone took that attitude? What are you going to do if they made off with your computer because you really don't need it? Give me your CDs because you really don't need them. People like this have serious entitlement issues.

guthmund

A couple of friends and I used to steal cheap porno at the convenience store. It was a really old store and the owner didn't want to spend money on a security system (the clerk told us that one.) We were to young to buy it legally and didn't have any money if we could. It was mostly crap stuff we got our hands on, like the little books filled with "erotic" stories like those in Hustler. They sold in chunks of three and were the easiest to lift.

It didn't last too long. I stumbled on my step-father's stash and his stuff was of finer quality

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SecretMethod70

If you count grabbing a hershey kiss from the big barrel in the grocery store when I was probably 5 and didn't fully realize it was wrong and getting caught by my mom, then yes

Otherwise, no.

I have thought about how easy it would be in some cases though, but never considered actually doing it.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

hotzot

I was in the 3rd grade and lifted a hot wheels car. I didn't know the owner of the woolworths saw me do it. He got me before I left the store. I was banned from that woolworths forever. Thank god they went under.

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CSflim

I'm surrounded by thieves!

You all DISGUST me!

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hilbert25

I have to agree with papermachesatan. There is no reason to steal from anybody else. If you can't afford it, tough, since you don't need clothes, cd's, or jewelry anyway.

That being said, I did get caught inadvertently shoplifting once when I was 5. I grabbed a candy bar and asked my mom if I could have it, but she probably tuned my annoying voice out by that point. As we walk out of the store, she sees it in my hand then proceeded to beat the crap out of me while dragging my ass back into the store to pay for it. The shopkeeper felt so bad as I was crying so much that I don't think they even made us pay.