have you ever stolen anything?

Copy paper from the workroom. I’m an educator. And I was tired of being limited on how much paper I could use

I stole an eyeliner once. I don't remember where from but my mother just always said eyeliner was inappropriate for teenage girls. So I stole one so I could have it because it was forbidden. Ha!

Yes. I stole candy from the store. I remember being so guilty about it but I really wanted that candy!

Stickers from a stationery store age 8 or 9. Prompty caught by my aunt (the packaging was making crinkly noises) marched back to the store and up to the register to give it back and apologize. Taught me I'm a bad thief and I prefer not to get caught, so I don't steal (ETA: plus it's wrong! 😂)

I grew up in California and picking fruit off of neighborhood trees was never considered stealing.

yup

Yes! And I've never confessed this until now, lol. My dad (divorced from my mom) had a girlfriend (one of several). I stayed with my dad every other weekend as required by the custody agreement. One weekend he said we were staying overnight at girlfriend's house and I would be babysitting girlfriend's 6 year old son while dad & girlfriend went out on the town. I was very upset.

Anyway, the guest room I was given at girlfriend's house had a closet FULL of girlfriend's clothes, the biggest treasure trove of beautiful, expensive, stylish clothes a 13 year old girl whose mom could only afford thrift store shopping could imagine!! I stole a blue and white striped bikini swimsuit from her closet. I felt really bad and planned to return it but my dad broke up with her before I could. I wondered if they broke up because I stole the swimsuit. EEK!!

When I was at my aunt's last summer (2019) I stole some family photos. They were in a closet in the spare room. They were old photos, of my aunt as a little girl, and a few others. I wish I took them all, and the one's that were in her basement because she passed away this summer, 2020, and my cousins that live in the area told me that they just threw away everything in the house. I could have asked, but she might have said "no" you can have them when I go. I know she gave my mom some photos, but I feel that she kept the best ones, the ones in the best condition, and it was all for naught. My son stole some Pokemon cards as a teenager from Walmart. I was so mad....but he learned his lesson.

yes. i was peer pressured into it at kmart when i was 13. i stole a 5 pack of those rubber madonna bracelets. my friend stole a bunch of stuff. we got walked into store security room, they called the COPS!!!

i got driven home by the police and my grandparents were staying with us for 2 months before we moved out of the province, my dad had already moved and my mom was working. my grandmother answered the door, i am standing there with the cop with a cop car in the driveway. ::

the cop kept saying, after dropping my friend off first, "this wasn't your idea, was it?". i felt like such a bad-ass because i didn't answer him. wasn't gonna sell MY GIRL out.

i had to go to a probation officer!! i had to write a letter of apology AND i was banned from Kmart for life.

my friend got way more - she had to do community service hours. although she too has been banned from kmart for life as well. ::

scared me straight. for YEARS (like into my 30s) when i would leave a store and go thru those detector things, i would check my pockets, afraid someone stuck something in there and they would never believe me after my past.

btw, i do not think there is any kmart's in canada anymore???

Once when I was about 6 or 7 I really liked this tag on an article of clothing. I ripped it off, but felt so guilty I dropped it on the ground about a minute later. As a teen, I once took a hair clip on a dare. And I was an accomplice once. My friend told me stand in a certain spot and turn around. After we left the shop she showed me the stickers she has stolen. I didn’t hang with her too much after that.

Yes but in my defense I was 3. Of course i don't remember but the story goes - 


I was in the toddler seat of our pram, my baby sister was lying down in the pram behind/below my seat. Mum didn't drive so we walked everywhere. We visited a kids clothing store and chose some things for my new sister. Mum parked the pram next to a wall display of socks (so packets of socks hanging of those silver arms that stick out) and went to pay. While she was gone (only a couple of feet away, but we were parked behind her) I had a merry time loading all the socks into the pram. When we got home she discovered all the socks and was mortified! So we walked back to the shops to return them to a grateful shop assistant. 

An ice cream bar from a vending machine at the zoo. It was practically sticking halfway out already. I was 13. And a construction cone when I was 16. I gave up my life of crime after that.

Stealing apples is a rite of passage (epleslang in Norwegian). As long as you only take a few and don’t hurt the tree, nobody cares.

My home was pretty dysfunctional, and my sibs and I had our moments. I’m sure I was the most honest of the bunch, but as the oldest, it often fell to me to make sure we 5 kids had what we needed. I just found it was easier to steal from my step father’s pockets, he was a bartender so they were always full of change. I got lunch money, book club money, field trip money, ect. It was just less trouble and more reliable than trying to find a time when one of the parents were home, sober, awake and cooperative.

There’s no excuse for the shoplifting my girlfriend and I did st. 12 and 13, except the thrill. We would get small items, like lipstick and cheap baubles. We didn’t even really want the things. After a couple times, it was no longer “fun” and it stopped. Never got caught. We were both brains, goody two shoes type girls, no one we knew would ever have suspected. I think maybe that was why we did it, proving to ourselves we weren’t THAT good.

My siblings, on the other hand went on to various lives of crime, including stints in jail and prison and all kinds of substance abuse. Only one really turned it around and had a decent life.

When I was around 4 years old, I went with my mom to the grocery store.  They displayed their pinto beans in a large barrel.  I liked the feeling of putting my hands into them up to my elbow and swirling them around.  They were cold and it just felt good.  I guess this one time I pulled my hand out and had 3 or 4 beans still in my hand.  I carried them around the store with me.  When we got outside to the car, my mom noticed me looking at the beans.  She made me go back inside the store and tell the manager that I has stolen them.  I had no idea what stealing was and I was terrified.  The manager couldn't keep from smiling and told me to put them back and not to do that again. I remember crying all the way home.  Not because I was caught or because I couldn't keep the beans, but because I was confused at what had just happened.  I get what my mom was trying to do, but I was too young and I think she could have dealt with it better.  

I was stopped for shoplifting when I was in my mid 20s.  My DH and I were going on a cruise and I was putting together all my outfits.  I had a list written down of what else I needed and swatches from the skirts that I had made.  I was looking for tops, belts, and jewelry to coordinate.  I guess I pulled the list and swatches out of my purse to compare them for color and then stuck them back into my purse.  As I was leaving the store, a salesgirl grabbed me by the arm and told me to come back into the manager's office.  I was confused and humiliated.  

The manager told me that the sales girl saw me putting something into my purse.  I explained that I had sewn some skirts and was shopping for shirts and belts to go with them and had my fabric samples in my purse.  She said okay and that I could leave.  I insisted that she open my purse and look inside.  She said it wasn't necessary and I insisted it was necessary for ME.  I ended up opening it wide and making her look inside and pulled out my fabric samples.

She explained that they had just had a store meeting about shoplifting that morning and the salesgirl was being overly zealous.  I was shaking as I left the store and I just immediately went home.  I never went into that store again.  I also never carry samples inside my purse again.  I still bring things, but I put them into a clear zip lock bag and use a carabiner to attach the ziplock bag to the outside strap of my purse.  I am very slow and exaggerated when comparing things now.