Theft

[Sporadica]

i am a shoplifter, whenever i go to a store with my friends i get the urge to shoplift and i do. I get a sort of high from it. i haven't been caught before and i would say i have stolen about $10,000 (retail value) of stuff.my friend got me to do this and he always does it with me. what should I do about this?

[Zephyr]

Try to resist the urge to do it.
Remove yourself from the situation by waiting outside of the store.
Think about the trouble you could get in,
If this habit keeps up into adulthood,
You can get arrested straight up,
Not just talked to and never allowed back in the store.

[Oblivion]

I agree with Steph
Its kind of like a drug, its addicting
Each time you go in a store resist the urge
Or, if you can't, stop going to the store with your friends, and only go with your parents

[Sporadica]

thanks guys, ill try that, i think after seeing that 2 of my friends (over 18) just got caught and arrested i am scared to do it now, but ill still try to fight the urge, but me and my friends had some fun times with shoplifting but i am gonna try to get rid of "shoplifting hour" and make it video game hour (with the video games we stole) srry about the sick-ish humor there (is that considered irony?) but one thing we always did is wed decide an item, then make sure we have enough money to pay for it, then if we get caught we said "it was a heat of the moment thing, and we regret it" then paid for it

[byee]

The 'Heat of the moment' excuse won't likely work.

I have a couple of thoughts here. First, your friends aren't really helping here, they're encouraging bad judgement and bad behavior. You might need to all agree to stop this behavior, or you might need to find other friends. Just the way alcoholics do.

The other thought I had is that what you're doing isn't really 'shoplifting', it's grand larceny. $10,000 worth of stuff is a lot, what you've got is a major problem with impulse control and judgement. This likely comes from something else, there's a cause for it, and i'd bet that you do other things that aren't always so good. Perhaps it's time to address this.

I like the idea of substituting other things for "grand larceny time", I also like the idea of you staying out of stores to avoid the temptation, go into them with your mother instead. However, if you cannot control the urges, then you'd need some therapy to learn them.

The issue isn't just getting caught (which eventually you will), it's the lifetyle you're growing accustomed to. Acting on urge, without benefit of thought or restraint, is a frankly dangerous lifestlye to adopt. And once it becomes that, it will be harder to stop, and might involve other high risk behaviors.

[MrPinnick17]

Heat of the moment?
Have you ever watched the television show cops?

Just think that someone may always be watching you. Depending on how old you are, you could spend time in jail, or a juvenile detention center over an item that...

1. You actually had the money to pay for, but for some reason didn't.
2. You could probably live with out
and
3. Your going to screw up your life, your future really if they put it on your record over an item that doesn't cost more than $5?

I mean I just don't get it. People who buy stuff usually work hard for their money at their jobs, some people are scraping up whatever they can find just so they can pay for their monthly groceries. And you and your friends just think you can take whatever you want for free and get away with it?

I know we're in a recession but your better than that, everyone is above stealing. I think if you utilize some of the great advice listed above you'll do just fine bud.

You know your wrong, and it's great your doing something to try to correct it, that's a mature thing to do especially when it's something like shoplifting.

[Sapphire]

Ok, I am not going to mince my words here because I feel strongly about this.

You should not be shoplifting at all. Yes, ok, we all have lapses in judgements at times. But stealing about $10,000 worth of stuff is not just an occassional lapse of judgement. You have the money to buy it so just bloody well buy it. What you are doing is selfish and without any good reason. You have the money you need and yet for some reason you opt for the selfish way out. You get what you want and you still have the money. What the hell makes you above the rules the rest of us abide by?

Get yourself a job and then you will better appreciate the value of money. It will give you something constructive to do with your time as well as benefiting others.

[antimonic]

If you had a problem with being unable to stop then the entire process of planning and then implementing the theft wouldn’t occur, it would be more of an opportunistic process.......just a thought.....

[Sporadica]

Heat of the moment?
Have you ever watched the television show cops?

Just think that someone may always be watching you. Depending on how old you are, you could spend time in jail, or a juvenile detention center over an item that...

1. You actually had the money to pay for, but for some reason didn't.
2. You could probably live with out
and
3. Your going to screw up your life, your future really if they put it on your record over an item that doesn't cost more than $5?

I mean I just don't get it. People who buy stuff usually work hard for their money at their jobs, some people are scraping up whatever they can find just so they can pay for their monthly groceries. And you and your friends just think you can take whatever you want for free and get away with it?

I know we're in a recession but your better than that, everyone is above stealing. I think if you utilize some of the great advice listed above you'll do just fine bud.

You know your wrong, and it's great your doing something to try to correct it, that's a mature thing to do especially when it's something like shoplifting.

well hold on, im not in a reccesion, im not an american, my dollar (canadian) is more powerful than ever, and my uncle is a lawyer and he has said that theft under $5000 is minor theft and over that is grand larceny or larceny (cant remember), and when you steal something like $25 and you get away off the property than you cant be charged (suprised me too) and i got caught and i was banned from my local mall for 1 year so i dont do it anymore

[Sapphire]

If your country is not in a recession then that makes your behaviour even more unacceptable than it would be in the first place. You know you are doing wrong so get your act together.

And I love how you have only addressed one point raised in a total of four posts...