When you were between the ages of 7 and 18, did you EVER steal ANYTHING?

[mudesi]

Poll question: When you were between the ages of 7 and 18, did you EVER steal ANYTHING?

It's the Internet. Try to be honest.

In other words, I expect zero "No" answers.

Poll result (173 votes)
Yes	(154 votes, 89%)	Vote
No (And I'm a liar)	(19 votes, 11%)	Vote

[kirby]

1. Plead the 5th... n/t

[BuyingThyme]

2. Yes.

I'm a thief.

[onehandle]

3. I stole the ladies' hearts. nt

[rateyes]

41. I stole their innocence...

Oh, no, they gave it to me.

[onehandle]

51. I'm a gentleman.

I left that part out.

Make that parts.

[rateyes]

52. I'm glad someone is.

[cynatnite]

4. 20 bucks out of my dad's wallet. n/t

[bigwillq]

5. Yes.

My buddy and I used to steal baseball cards at the local Woolworth. We would buy a couple of packs, in order to get a receipt, and then go to that aisle and start to open packs, keeping the cards we wanted. We stole so many cards over the course of a couple of years.

[BuyingThyme]

8. That's a conspiracy.

[gollygee]

6. I honestly don't think I did

But I think I was unusual, and I don't think kids should be arrested for stealing $2 worth of brownies. I had parents who would have beaten me so I was ridiculously afraid of consequences.

You don't have to believe me though. It's ok!

[.... callchet ....]

7. I voted no and I don't lie .

[.... callchet ....]

11. My head is starting to hurt.

Does that mean that those that voted yes are not liars.

[.... callchet ....]

12. If you lie about lying does that make you a non liar ?

[.... callchet ....]

18. How long do you have to keep something before it is stolen ?

[.... callchet ....]

20. Who have you been talking to ?

[.... callchet ....]

28. Okay Okay I can't stand it ! !

I'll put the Snicker back, but I found the Milky WAy in the parking lot.

[.... callchet ....]

30. Damn your good. !

I'll never do it again.

[.... callchet ....]

32. You should be attorney general

[.... callchet ....]

34. But your inhumane tactics will get you in jail !

[Vickers]

64. lol @ the entire sequence of responses

[TheCowsCameHome]

35. callchet, party of ten - your table is ready

[rateyes]

37. ROFL.

[.... callchet ....]

39. Some of us take offense at that remark !

[TheCowsCameHome]

43. Then they can wait outside.

[.... callchet ....]

44. We talked it over.

Half of us thought it was rash, half of us thought it hurt, and the rest of us were willing to accept the blame.

[rateyes]

36. It wasn't you who stole the snickers,

it was you.

[cali]

9. I used to borrow my sister's clothes without asking

does that count? Sorry, I never shoplifted. Not even a stick of gum.

[TheCowsCameHome]

26. Luckily you didn't get caught, Fred.

[rateyes]

33. Yes, cali's gender status on her profile of

"undeclared" remains in tact.

[kimmerspixelated]

49. Wow! I did, too!

I was developed for my age, and our sizes were the same even though she was older than me.

[mahina]

10. Smokes.

Bleh.

[Jazzgirl]

13. Unfortunately...yes and got caught.

I didn't steal anything else after that. It was a pair of shoes from Payless. My girlfriend had stolen a pair (she was a master thief) and I decided to try. I got caught and was told never to come back. I got lucky!

[XOKCowboy]

14. I was marched right back down to the Dime Store to return it and apologize

I know it sounds a little Mayberry'ish but it's true, even the Dime Store. That's the way it was in small town Oklahoma in the early 60s.

Oh and my parents never heard of a timeout. If you know what I mean. Punishment was a little different in the '60s also.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

80. A Timeout? Haaaa!

That would be the time between my mother cutting the switch off the damned apricot tree and then beating me with it.

Oh I stole some stuff but not before I was 18. I developed a shoplifting habit in my 20's that ended my life of crime when I was caught stealing CHEESE for a dinner party - That cheese was really over priced and I liked having grand affairs... That ended my crime spree. It was horrible.

[last_texas_dem]

15. I never shoplifted

In terms of other types of stealing, I can think of a time I stole something from my cousin after I suspected that he had taken something of mine. But I just thought I was squaring things up, albeit in kind of a backhanded fashion!

[Bicoastal]

16. Yes--I got so used to going to family restaurants that had a "candy dish" near the door...

...that I decided on my own that if you were little, sweets were completely free for the taking. I knew it was stealing to most people, but because I was a kid, it would somehow be OK.

On TWO occasions, I took candy from stores where it was CLEARLY not complimentary. I can't remember how old I was, but it was probably on the shallow end of the 7-18 group.

The first time, I grabbed a Hershey bar from a gift shop at Universal Studios, and forgot to eat it--it melted in my pocket. My mom was annoyed about the stain, but didn't ask where it came from (perhaps assuming my dad bought it for me.) On another occasion, I "took" a box of choccolate covered mints from a flower shop near my home. After eating them, I felt so guilty that I never stole candy again.

And I never got caught. Just thinking about it now makes me feel regretful and guilty.

[lapfog_1]

17. Cookies out of the cookie jar, when Mom wasn't watching. Does that count? - n/t

[gollygee]

23. Dunno about cookies, but brownies sure would!

[lapfog_1]

38. Nah, the brownies and I played "doctor" in the basement.

Yeah, now I would be a convicted sex offender at the age of 6.

[Zynx]

19. Never from a store, but a lot from my brother and sister.

[Political_Junkie]

21. Nope, never.

Sorry, i've always had a problem with stealing, even as a child. I used to lecture adults around me about it. Can't even play a thief in a video game, my conscience won't let me! LOL

[TheCowsCameHome]

22. I put a slug in the slot of the drugstore scale and silently stole a weigh.

[guitar man]

24. yep

when I was 16 there was a guy that drove a beer delivery truck lived a few houses down.

[Glorfindel]

25. Yes, a comic book, and I've felt bad about it ever since

I was probably 11 or 12 at the time.

[mudesi]

50. Wow. Still?

You might want to get over it. You were a child, after all.

[BlooInBloo]

57. You're kidding, right?

[ShadesOfGrey]

68. Got ya beat. I stole a 'Tiger Beat' magazine at about the...

same age. I'm giving my age away here (it was a magazine for Teeny Boppers with pics of teeny bopper heart throbs). How embarrassing! My dad made me return it to the store and apologize. I never stole anything again, except for maybe pens from work.

[Ian David]

27. When I was 10, I stole steak knives out of the neighborhood bully's tree fort...

... and left a ransom note.

I thought he'd never tell his parents that someone stole the knives he himself stole from his mother's kitchen. I was wrong.

I also knew they'd never figure out how to use the clue I left behind, that the name of the person who stole it was written in lemon juice on the back. I was right.

They called the cops, and the cops put the note in a toaster oven, and then called my school, who then called my father at his office.

To make sure I was sufficiently frightened, my father told me that it was The F.B.I., and not just the local cops who were involved.

[rateyes]

29. I used to eat grapes in the produce section of the store while

my mom did the grocery shopping.

[FloridaJudy]

31. I stole a rock.

From a friend's rock collection, when I was about seven or eight. But I felt nervous about getting caught, so I put it back before she noticed it was gone. Does that count? Other than that, I never took anything.

[.... callchet ....]

40. Do you think these admissions to single instances of thievery are going to wipe the slate clean.

I don't think so ! !

[wickerwoman]

42. No. I did all my stealing when I was 5 and 6.

Didn't get caught but still felt horrible about it.

I shoplifted a pack of gum when I was six to join a "gang" of cool kids in first grade. Never thought twice about it until I was eleven and then was wracked with guilt about it for about three weeks (and weirdly also sure that I would suddenly be caught for shoplifting five years before.)

I was pretty much a goody-two-shoes. I would steal if I had to though.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

45. I Was A Master Thief By 8 1/2.

My brothers and I. Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of stuff. Was our biggest hobby, and we were damned good too! Hell, my straight as an arrow never committed a sin in her life mother even helped us with a HUGE ripoff one night, and to this day she still has no idea that we owed it all to her! That's a long story for another day though lol.

[.... callchet ....]

46. Do you work for Homeland security ?

[Shiver]

47. I am a diagnosed kleptomaniac

From the ages of 12 to 18, I stole from more stores and people than I can remember. I've stolen several thousand dollars worth of merchandise - lighters, pens, books, CDs, art supplies, movies, video games, food, candy, cigarettes, money, clothes, lawn ornaments... I couldn't get enough. Most of it I didn't even need, a major portion I didn't even want. I literally could not help myself; the thrill was greater than any drug I have ever taken, greater than any sex I have ever had.

I was caught one month before my eighteenth birthday. I was lifting some books from a Borders here in Madison, and they had changed the security system on me. My parents were there, and saw everything. It was Valentines Day.

A week later, I met with a new psychiatrist. I was diagnosed as a kleptomaniac a week after my 18th birthday.

I haven't stolen anything since that day at Borders. In February I will have been clean for five years. The urge is still there, though, as strong as it ever was; every time I walk into a store, my eyes immediately locate the security cameras and note whether or not they have sensors by the doors. I check the angles everywhere, and cannot help myself from keeping note of where each employee is at any given time. My fingers twitch when I see small items I know I can fit in my pockets. My breathing grows ragged sometimes, and more than once I've had to remove myself from a store to keep from giving into the temptation. Even writing about it right now is making my heart race, the tension I always felt before a theft, the tingling in my spine, the exhilaration...

[Political Tiger]

48. Who told? n/t

[FedUpWithIt All]

53. I got caught stealing cross stitch floss to make bracelets. My friend was grabbing up some make up.

I was horrified. They let us go with a stern word.


Now i am the type that will drive 30 minutes to return a $20 bill that a bank clerk accidentally gives me.

[Hannah Bell]

54. never did, not lying.

[MrSlayer]

55. I still have some of the stuff I stole.

All my hardback AD&D 2nd edition books and modules are hot. Albums from the record store, all kinds of shit. We were a pretty good group of thieves for being 12 years old. My brother was a master thief. He could get you nearly anything you wanted back in the day.

[BlooInBloo]

56. I have some books from my Junior High School library!

[Broken_Hero]

58. As do I....nt

[Shiver]

63. With exception of the last items I ganked

(which, as mentioned up-thread, I got caught stealing) I still have everything I stole as well. Hell, I'm wearing a stolen bandanna right now...

[bluedawg12]

59. Is this a Voight-Kamff like in Blade Runner?

[Qanisqineq]

60. yes, I stole a pack of gum

a few times. It was dumb but I think it was more just to see if I could get away with it.

[Iggo]

61. Oh good god yes.

I could sit here for a week straight trying to list everything I stole when I was a kid and I wouldn't even get halfway through it. A lot of little shit, some shoplifting, and some substantial capers. Tapered off drastically as I got to high school age.

As an adult, I was never really a thief. However, I was known to not ask any questions when accepting items in lieu of cash. Know'm say'n?

[Raine]

62. Yeah but I quit long before I reached 17 ...

probably quit around 13 cause I was afraid of getting caught uptil then I was quite daring.

[rucky]

65. I stole a Van Halen button for my denim jacket.

[ejpoeta]

66. i stole a toothbrush. i figured if i was going to steal something, it should be something i needed.

man! i couldn't LIVE with myself. and that ended my foray into crime.

[shadowknows69]

67. Had a small bout stealing GI Joe and various other action figures

From a local Sears. It was just too damn easy in those days, I could have walked off with half of Black and Decker's tool stock if my tastes were more mature than a 10 year old. Used to go with dad and toys and tools were both in this downstairs section close to the exit. I'd take them out of the packages, slip them in my pocket and go tell dad in the saw section I was going to wait in the car. Frankly, the way my finances are going thievery is looking pretty good again.

[mikeargo]

69. I don't recall, senator...nt

[carlyhippy]

70. I was too scared to steal anything, so no, I didn't take anything.....

but when I was about 10, my sitter asked me about a piece of jewelry that turned up missing...turned out, her husband had taken it to a jeweler earlier that day to have it remounted, as a surprise...that biotch...I felt like no one trusted me after that, I hope that old crow rots.

[Earth_First]

71. "Lies make baby jesus cry."

[originalpckelly]

72. No, but before I turned seven I hadn't completely grasped the idea...

that you had to buy stuff in stores. I remember this Zebra bubble gum, and I stole a pack of it in the line. My mom paid for it, but I was definitely punished then.

I was seriously poor at various times in my life, but I was definitely against stealing.

[davsand]

76. I ate peanuts out of the bulk display. I got caught and had to apologize to the mgr.

I was maybe four or five, I think? I don't think I was in school yet...

Anyhow, I was standing there in the A & P store eating peanuts right out of the display and a stock boy saw me doing it. He came up and told me I was "stealing." My Mom made me apologize to the store manager.

I was so freaked out by it all that I would not eat peanuts for years after that. I still am not terribly fond of them--and I'll be 49 later this year!



Laura

[Le Taz Hot]

73. Yes.

Abject poverty can make you do things you would not normally do.

[pipi_k]

74. I hijacked an entire busload of people when I was 11....

er, not really.



But writing it makes me feel a little less guilty about stealing the quarter from my mom's wallet to spend at the 5 and 10 cent store.

[ensho]

75. and No I'm not a liar

nt

[Hanse]

77. The liars saying "no" are posting from work, and don't want to get in trouble.

[TankLV]

91. Bullshit asshole. I'm not a liar. I've never stole anything. Period.

Shove it up your ass...

Stealing's not normal, or "part of growing up".

Never was, never has been...

[mudesi]

94. LOL

That's the kind of defensiveness that screams "guilty".

[MrMickeysMom]

78. Yeah... I feel shame, too.

I didn't even need the smaller comic book inside the comic book. I got away with it, but made baby Jesus cry.

Nice surfing pix, mahina...

[Dukkha]

79. vinyl records

and as I made my escape I realized I left my wallet in the store and went back in and got it and left again. bold and stupid. this was the 80's before anti-theft detectors at doors. Stealing records was the 80's version of 'file sharing'

[Stephanie]

81. I was younger than 7, but I stole two caramels out of the Brachs bin

My mother caught me immediately, I got a lecture and had to put them back. End of my shoplifting career.

[TahitiNut]

82. So, you see no material difference between the acts of a 7-year-old and a 17-year-old?

Wow.

[mudesi]

83. Not really, no

Especially when the stolen item is of such low value.

A 17 year old is still a child, believe it or not.

[ecstatic]

84. Yes. Hanging with the wrong crowd as a teen

Thank goodness I wasn't caught, but I feel sorry for those whose lives may have been ruined from committing similar acts.

I would never dream of doing that now, I have way too much to lose--plus integrity. However, I was shocked when hanging out with an ex-friend who casually stole a bag of candy at the movies. There's no excuse for an employed adult to steal.

[CRF450]

92. dupe

[Pithlet]

85. Never shoplifted. I did steal a friend's pencil case when I was 7.

That's the only thing I can remember. I might have taken things when I was smaller, but don't remember.

[varelse]

86. no

I never wanted anything badly enough to steal it. Apathy ftw.

[lumberjack_jeff]

87. No, I didn't.

And I'm confident I'm not the only one.

[Left Is Write]

88. You're not the only one.

[Marrah_G]

89. No

Well okay, maybe a cookie off the tray while they were cooling...........

Why would you think everyone has stolen things?

Note: I also think calling the cops over 2 brownies is stupid. Calling my parents and telling them I stole something would have been far worse....... I am the product of two teachers....

[TankLV]

90. Nope. Never. Ever.

And I'm not lying about it...

[CRF450]

93. Hell yeah I did, aint afraid to admit it.

Used to steal a package of sling shot BB's so I can shoot some stuff in the back yard. I know I'v stolen other stuff as a kid/teen but cant remember right off hand.

We've all done stupid illegal shit in one form or another as kids, nothing new about that. Now that I'm grown up, have money and stores are loaded up cameras, I'm scare to even steal the smallest of all store items.