Shoplifting Epidemic

[merryone]

When I was younger and didn't know any better (well I did as I knew right from wrong so no excuse really) but as a teenager my morals were sadly lacking and petty pilfering was rife amongst my peer group. I'll never forget the first time I dipped my toe into the water so to speak. I was with a school friend walking past a parade of shops when she said "let's go in the chemist's it's really easy" I asked her what she meant by that and she said "stealing of course, help yourself no one will notice" Indeed the shop was a dark cavern not helped by the "lucozade wrapper" blind in the window the floor to ceiling aisles. The till was on a higher at the end of a raised plinth that didn't actually look down any of the aisles in front of it was a huge display of stuff and behind the counter a tiny window from where the dispenser handed the medicines to the cashier. We took a small bottle of apple blossom perfume each and trotted off contented! Subsequently I went in alone on Saturday morning on the way to a friend's house armed with two large denim shopping bags which I merrily filled up with goodies. I was in the store for a long time and nobody noticed what I was up to. I heard the clip clop of the assistant coming and I froze, she approached me and asked "can I be of any assistance" I said no I'm just looking for gift ideas, to which she started asking me who the recipient was etc when another customer interrupted her and asked her a question. I quickly took my leave and continued my journey to my friend's house with whom I shared the loot much to her delight and amazement. I used to steal stuff quite a lot after that and not just from there, it became a challenge if you like and earned brownie points with my peers. I stopped doing it when I realised the stress was too much - I'd like to say that my guilty conscience kicked in and a sense of wrong doing, but I can't. I never did it again but it wasn't until I thought about it as an adult that the guilt kicked in and even now it makes me feel bad.

 

[Xennial]

If you had £2.00 per hour then you have to do what you can to survive. I think I would if I was in that situation - what else could you do?

I never bought any food, but wasn't going to pass up on ralph lauren or YSL shirts or polo shirts for £10, or bottles of the top selling aftershaves such as CK One, Tommy Hilfiger, and CK Obsession to name a few for £5, or bottles of spirits for £5. This was back in the mid-90s, before the minimum wage was introduced in the late 90s, and it was the only way I could afford any of the above items back then.

 

[Peppermint Patti]

I've done without rather than steal something and as far as I'm aware none of my friends did either.

 

[C-Lion]

I've done without rather than steal something and as far as I'm aware none of my friends did either.

I agree with you. To the absolute best of my belief my friends have never done so either. I have not. The shame of even getting caught would kill me.

It’s a difficult one because if you are struggling and you know of somebody who does this and offers you - say for example - washing pods etc for a couple of quid then you would be tempted. The flip side is you are directly helping their drugs habit and you could find yourself being collared by the police for handling stolen goods. A friend of mine unwittingly found himself in this situation he got a criminal record out of it he had no idea the stuff was stolen.

 

[Nosey Parker]

I'm sorry if this offends, but anyone who shoplifts or knowingly buys stolen goods are scumbags. All it does is put the prices up for us decent people. Saying you were poor is no excuse. My mother was widowed at 40 and had to bring me up by herself. We were really poor, but neither she nor I ever stole anything. As Peppermint Patti says, what we couldn't afford, we did without.

 

[Vienna]

When I worked at the hostel I had many a heartbroken Mother arrive with her son who because of his drug habit she felt unable to have him live with her and the rest of the family. To see such heartbreak is terrible, a Mum in floods of tears begging me to look after her boy but his behaviour had driven her to do the unthinkable for most parents and to tell him he was no longer welcome in the family home.
One Mum told me she`d gone away on holiday with her husband, only to return and find some of her jewellery had been taken and electrical items were missing from the house. Her son had sold them to buy drugs.
Another Mum had a phonecall from her bank asking had she given someone a cheque to be exchanged for cash. She hadn`t and it was her son who`d tried to forge her signature and cash a cheque for £1000 to pay drug debts
One lad owed so much money to his dealer that his Mum`s house windows were bricked and 3 guys turned up carrying machetes and trying to break through the front door. His younger sister who was 16 was alone in the house at the time and studying for her GCSE`s but was so traumatised she refused to leave the house thinking someone was going to attack her.
There are many more tales I could tell but they all had a common thread ie drugs and theft. Unless you are an addict we will never know just how desperate people are for their daily fixes even to the point of wrecking relationships with the people who love them the most and the lies and levels they will sink to in order to feed their addiction.
Stealing from shops doesn`t even register on their conscience let alone bother their conscience.
Nobody can or should justify theft and even if you come from a poor background theft is wrong. but I know why the lads I worked with used to steal, I know why their Mums and dads, partners, or wives felt they could no longer live with them and unless you`ve seen someone trying to go cold turkey or do a home withdrawal and watch the cruelty of doing it without the correct meds or support and in a way it makes you realise the theft is as much a part of the addiction as the needle they stuck into their arms, legs or groin, they couldn`t do one without the other.
Stealing just for the kick or the buzz or because you only have enough money for a pot noodle not a rump steak, or your best mate has the latest perfume but you don`t or you fancy a bottle of wine but can`t afford it or the laundry pods are too much of a temptation etc etc is not only wrong, it`s pathetic.