Am I a bad person?
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
You are a very good person, because you are reflective of your past, conscious of your actions, and have morals that gave you the guilt that you feel. You're alright little one.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
A poor political climate is no reason to avoid seeing a doctor
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Okay I don't have any advice except this:
If you have to steal, please only steal from big corporate chain stores, not the small bussiness.
Also, be careful, cameras are everywhere these days.
I'm not judging the act of theft, just where you steal from. Please only steal from the rich.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Also, spread theft around... A guy in Lowes was telling me they don't try and stop thieves until they rack up $10k of stuff so they can hit them with a bigger charge. Said they are using facial recognition and tracking that way now. Might have been full of shit but my dystopian mind thought it plausible.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
I'll tap in for Brother Bear!
What are you trying to solve here beyond indulging guilt? Your last sentence is outright asking to be told you're bad. If you want validation or excuse for that you can go to confession or seek diagnosis (which might fairly fit into your plan, I'm not judging).
You say, "If you steal from someone ... saying sorry doesn’t do much for me because if you were sorry, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place." I hear, "avoidance". Apologies are promises, commitments, and covenants, not regret and remorse. Simply Feeling Bad is the relinquished barfly's philosophy and doesn't accomplish much but prolonging the bad feeling.
Talking anonymously online or in person can be a healthy start to validate and work through both the stealing and the secrecy, but growing beyond those releases all The Stuff so you can exist honestly and authentically with your pack.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Something I've heard in different ways goes something like this: A young man wanted a bike so he prayed to his god for a bike but never got it. So he stole the bike and prayed for forgiveness.
You already know the answer to your question. The (rhetorical) question now, is what will you do going forward?
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Mask up
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Yeah, but I'd aggree with MissJinx. Lots of teenagers occasionally shoplift. But stealing a significant amount of money from your brother is imo defintly a big red flag.
Still, going open with it is a really great step imo. But I'd also say, that if you ever again feel that urge, professional help would be a good idea.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
That might be true, but in this post you say you were doing it only a year ago and still fight the urge to shoplift so it's probably still worth looking into.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
(Semi-related story, but unhelpful to OP:) when I was a child, I got tired of seeing the news coverage of Royal Family shenanigans on seemingly every single channel. So I did what any child did, and got down on one knee and prayed to God to kill Princess Diana. One week later, she was dead. The guilt stayed with me for a while.
The (real) question then was, what do I do going forward? The answer: Never pray again.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Judgement:
- Stealing from family is super wrong.
- Stealing from strangers is wrong.
- Stealing from small delis and family-owned business is wrong.
- Stealing from supermarkets and retailers? Eh.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
you could be a kleptomaniac. i'd check out a psychiatrist if i were you.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
If the multi billion dollar company employees need food stamps to live. Steal away.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Also, don't steal in your local area.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
My sister started a pet store. Took her 1 year to plan it all out and get it lined up. And she opened.
Theft was a constant problem from day one. Kids would steal aquarium filters and similarly pointless stuff. She installed cameras. She reported them to the cops. Nothing fucking changed.
She bailed out after a few years when the lease came up, losing her shirt but not her house, and now manages a vet hospital owned by some vets. They have no end of customers but definitely a list.
Steal from a retailer like that makes it okay? Just fuck you.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
That's bad, I'd classify your sister under family-owner business. By retailer I really meant the large gargantuan ones that sell everything, I have to admit I never knew retailers extended to small business owners
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
I agree. You're letting your better nature take control, taking responsibility, and making amends.
You should be proud of that.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Stealing is morally neutral, but can be a dick move if it's against individuals/results in the dispossession of something a person needs or cares about. But shoplifting/stealing from businesses is fine. They consider it inventory loss the same as if they dropped a bottle on the floor. It's written into their spending calculations and is an expected part of business. And quote unquote "small businesses" still had enough capital to start a business in the first place, and are ultimately insignificant anyway since the petit-bourgeoisie is doomed to forever either become big bourgeoisie or become proletarianised/unpropertied; proletarianisation is a progressive force and I'm not bothered if members of the petit-bourgeoisie become proletarianised, not that they will anyway purely from someone shoplifting lol.
Just follow the standard advice. Don't shit where you eat (don't shoplift somewhere you'd be upset if you got banned from) is the main one I adhere to. If you're only shoplifting small amounts I wouldn't worry about cops either, for small amounts they'll just ban you from the store, at least where I live idk about everywhere.
For individuals, I wouldn't steal from them if you care about your relationship with them. If they find out they'll probably be upset. If I found out someone stole from me I'd mostly be upset at the dishonesty. So it's good that you've been honest with your mom and are going to tell your brother. If it were me, I would be thinking, if you need something from me you could've just asked. Although it sounds like you're not stealing because it's something you particularly want or need, but just because you find stealing fun. In which case I would say just try to limit your stealing to shoplifting, or piracy if it scratches the same itch. Or steal from people you find particularly contemptible I guess.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
I'd be careful about that. Walmart in particular is getting nasty about theft. Even in making a mistake at the self checkout they've ruined people's lives.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
If you’re only shoplifting small amounts I wouldn’t worry about cops either, for small amounts they’ll just ban you from the store, at least where I live idk about everywhere.
Beware. A lot of stories, namely large chain stores, are tracking people who shoplift with cameras and won't press charges until you've cumulatively stolen enough for it to qualify as a serious offence with jail time and permanent criminal record.