Have you ever stolen anything?

[SimplyWandering]

Have you ever stolen anything?

What was it?

How did you do it?

How did you feel about the act after the fact?

Would you do it again?

I admit I haven’t always done the right thing and I usually feel bad about it. Sometimes it is accidental and already left the location.

 

[Isadoorian]

When I was little (~ 5 or 6) I may have stolen a thing of bubble gum from a convenience store; though I don't remember if I did it deliberately or by accident.

 

[Mia]

Recall being in a small shop of some sort with a parent, I couldn't see over the counter so I was pretty small. Think that I grabbed a fist full of something accessible at my level, and dropped them inside the rain boots I was wearing. The owner of the store noticed, and came around the counter and admonished me. Made me take the boot off and pour the contents out. My parent had not seen me do it, and looked I think surprised at the time. Children grab things and have little concept at that age of stealing.

As a teenager I was in a large department store, and was looking at gloves. I thought how easy it would be to just take them because I liked them. And then I looked around me, and realized that if I was caught it would be embarrassing, even horrifying. So I left them where they were and walked out to the store.

 

[Nitro]

Uhhhh, I'm going to have to plead the Fifth Amendment here on the grounds it might incriminate me

 

[dragonfire42]

I can't remember ever having stolen or trying to steal anything (and I'm a very strict rule-follower, I think it would stand out in my mind if I had done something so out of character for me).

 

[BraidedPony]

Between 14 and 18 i was a klepto. Never left a store without a little something.
From 18 to 22 i stole food and dog food quite a bit but only as needed.
My methods are secret just in case...
Oh, it felt great and i would do it again but only if i am broke and hungry.

 

[Bikutoso]

Not really.
But there was a time where I didn't pay for a bus ticket in Stavanger. Think the bus driver just was fed up with me trying to confirm the route. And ended up telling me to just go and sit down.

 

[Tom]

A few things here and there when young. I liked collecting signs for a while. A few watermelons on a hot summer night. A Gouda cheese. A 10 speed bike once, one night with a friend as a lark. But afterwards we felt guilty and actually sneaked it back into the garage . That was more nerve wracking then taking it. Like anyone would believe 'oh no, we are returning it!' if we got caught.

 

[BrokenBoy]

I steal whenever there's something I wanna which is not often but used to be more common when I was a kid.

 

[FreeDiver]

I don't know if this would be called stealing or not as it would be more like fraud then anything. Back in the 80's I got a modem for my C64 computer and I starting calling BBS all over the country. After I ran a up my parents phone bill to over $400 (and that was being modest as well), I soon realized I had to do something about that soon or I would not be able to call anymore BBS. BTW: I lived in rural part of Idaho and there where no local BBS I could call. Any BBS I wanted to call was a long distance call and long distance phone calls were very expensive back then. So I started doing a thing called Phone Phreaking so I could make these calls without getting billed for it or have it billed to someone else(something that came in handy for getting back at some of my enemies). So once I got the whole phreaking thing up and going. For the next 5 years I was calling BBS's all over the world with total impunity at a estimated cost of over a $1000 a month. I could also call 900 toll numbers as well with total impunity at a rate of $4 to $12 a minute and it was even more satisfying knowing that you could make your enemies pick up the tab for it. Today, all of that is now irrelevant thanks to the internet. But it's just crazy thinking about some of the things I did back in my teenage years.

 

[onlything]

A toy when I was a preschooler.

At some point, we (me and another preschooler) realised that another class took our plastic leopard toy. How dare they! It was our leopard! So, I put it in a pocket to bring it back to our classroom.

Forgot to put it back. The toy stayed in the pocket.

 

[Jeremiah]

Almost, once, and completely by accident.
I had desided to by new pencil sharpener, and after looking through the options, I picked one and paid for it. Soon after leaving the store, I noticed I had another, identical sharpener in my pocket. I guess I had half-mindedly put it there. I turned on my heels, returned to the store, and gave it back to the cashier.
It was kinda embarrassing.

 

[Lemongrab]

I stole a glance and stole a heart. I stole a little time and then I stole away.

 

[Fino]

I stole medicine and food from the store when I was a child and teenager.

I stole money from my parents when I was a kid but became overwhelmed with guilt within a few days and confessed.

While on drugs, I stole things simply because I didn't want to wait in line.

I've stolen things by accident, like candy I was holding and forgot to ring up or a shirt that was slung over my shoulder that I forgot about.

 

[Graphin]

Most often food when my parents forbid me from eating.

 

[Progster]

When I was very young, I took a towel from a hotel room because I needed it. I have felt bad about it ever since I realised that this is stealing and a criminal offence.

 

[Raphael Outcast]

Many things!

Road signs have always been a favourite, and indeed signs in general.

Cutlery also, if it's decent quality stainless steel and aesthetically pleasing.

There is an adrenaline rush in the moment, and in the longer term it feels like I'm awarding myself compensation for having been handed such a difficult life and being so lonely. Plus I have the signs on my walls and can derive some pleasure from looking at them, and obviously cutlery is of practical use and there has only ever been one time in my life when I actually had the money to go into a shop and buy some good cutlery (namely, six Arthur Price sundae spoons, necessary for stirring coffee in tall mugs).

None of this would really stand up in court, though...

 

[Bolletje]

When I was 13 I accidentally stole a hair clip from a store after trying it on because I forgot it was in my hair. When I entered another store the shopkeeper pointed to my head and said 'Ah! Give that to me!' I thought I was busted and handed it over, but then she cut off the price tag and gave it back to me, smiling and telling me I was a little forgetful to wear that thing with the tag still on. Then I felt too mortified to return it.
I never wore it because I was afraid of getting caught. For weeks at a time when someone knocked on the door of my classroom I thought it was the cops coming to get me. Looking back it's hilarious that I was so paranoid over something as silly as a cheap hair clip (it can't have costed more than 3 euros) but at the time I was genuinely afraid.

 

[Pats]

When I was a little kid I was at a neighbors and they had a package of these little animals (I've always like little things - still). I thought they were the neatest things and I put one in my pocket. I felt guilty, yes.
As a teen I stole a lot of things - mostly albums. But it was more of an 'I'll show you' thing against my dad. My parents found out that I had TRIED pot and moved me immediately away from my friends, would check any letter I got from my friends and would not give me a cent that I could possibly spend on pot. I used lunch money to buy cigarettes, stole things I might would have bought if I had an allowance and, eventually, started smoking pot with the other 'town freaks' since I was accused anyway and I was an outcast from all the other students anyway.
But by age 17, that came to an end and I would never steal anything. I found some embroidery thread in my baby's stroller when I got home once and, because it was wet with slobber, went back and paid them for it. The cashier said I didn't need to do that, I could just return it if I wanted. I said, no, it's been slobbered on so I would pay for it.
In my 30's my brother (who had plenty of money) told me he was stealing cable from his neighbor. I asked him how embarrassed he's going to feel, at his age, and perfectly able to pay for his own cable when he gets caught. He took it down and got his own cable.

 

[Nitro]

I don't know if this would be called stealing or not as it would be more like fraud then anything. Back in the 80's I got a modem for my C64 computer and I starting calling BBS all over the country. After I ran a up my parents phone bill to over $400 (and that was being modest as well), I soon realized I had to do something about that soon or I would not be able to call anymore BBS. BTW: I lived in rural part of Idaho and there where no local BBS I could call. Any BBS I wanted to call was a long distance call and long distance phone calls were very expensive back then. So I started doing a thing called Phone Phreaking so I could make these calls without getting billed for it or have it billed to someone else(something that came in handy for getting back at some of my enemies). So once I got the whole phreaking thing up and going. For the next 5 years I was calling BBS's all over the world with total impunity at a estimated cost of over a $1000 a month. I could also call 900 toll numbers as well with total impunity at a rate of $4 to $12 a minute and it was even more satisfying knowing that you could make your enemies pick up the tab for it. Today, all of that is now irrelevant thanks to the internet. But it's just crazy thinking about some of the things I did back in my teenage years.

Cap'n Crunch Calling