So I’m doing the weekly shopping in Aldi. If you have an Aldi near you and haven’t tried it out, you might just want to give it a go. Prices are good, products are good, why not? Because you can’t write a check or use a credit card? Hmm. Seems a strange reason for not saving money, but if that’s your choice, that’s okay by me.
In any case, the cashier of my particular lane suddenly shows no small amount of distress. She’s frantically waving, trying to get the attention of someone further back in the store. Turns out she was trying to get the manager-type, which she finally did, and he came up to find out what was going on.
The story was that a group of people had been packing up their groceries (at Aldi, you pack ’em yourself), and at some point therein had decided to go back to the freezer section, pick up some more food, and pack it up. You may have noticed that they didn’t pay for their new items in that process.
While I don’t know if this actually happened, as I was busily checking to see if there were any good impulse purchases around, it’s possible. If it wasn’t done by the group in question, it could certainly have been done by someone else. Which made me think about stealing in general.
What is it that people hope to accomplish? One would suspect that people steal because they can’t – or won’t – pay the posted prices for particular items. Fair enough. So they take it instead. Which means that the manager of the store then has to spend time dealing with the issue, new security measures are put into place, and in no time, prices have gone up, resulting in – you guessed it – even higher prices. Anyone see a pattern beginning to form?
Comments
48 responses to “Why Do People Steal?”
I have a good friend that I suspect has stolen, not once, but twice now…from people that I care a lot about. THe first incident was at my house where a friend had 500 on them and left it in their coat. Later that night, they realized that it was missing and was pointing fingers at everyone trying to get their allibi. Everyone besides this one girl was either around them or away from the coat. The next day the girl left and did not come back for awhile. The latest was at my parents house. I had to do some laundry and my friend and boyfriend were with. I gave my mom some money that I owed her and she placed it in her purse. My mom’s purse is located in the laundry room and my friend was helping to do laundry. The next day my mom called me and told me that the money I gave her was stolen. I dont know what to do?? I need some advice quickly on how to handle this situation. Keep in mind this is the same girl in both cases.
Like, who likes to steal anyway? Nothing in the world is free… so they steal! It could be done by without anybody looking…………………
Hi . . . I specialize in theft counseing and I am very impressed with all of the healthy thinking from most of you in the comments above.
I’d say people steal because by doing so they get what they want. It is a case of simple human selfish greed.
I’d say it is “normal” (natural) to be selfish and what prevents most of us from stealing is somehow we all come to the understanding that stealing has an negative impact on others. Like so many things in life we have to weigh out the impact on “self” vs “others”. People who steal typically do not comprehend the impact they are having on “others”.
I also like the answer above which suggests theft offenders need to be educated. I am strongly of the opinion that if most people understood the impact their – no matter how small – theft had on “others” they would choose not to do it. Yes, there is a little voice in “most” of us that reinforces that stealing crosses the line, but some people need to be taught to hear that voice.
As for katie, I suggest you contact http://www.thefttalk.com they respond to email questions and can be quite helpful.
Hi Ronda –
First let me say that I feel like I am totally unqualified to answer you in something like this – you may want to seek out more personal help, such as a therapist, a pastor or even just a family friend.
That said, if it were me, I would probably try to find a neutral third-party site where you could have any get-togethers. That way you don’t have to worry about him stealing anything that you’ve left out.
Naturally, it will be awkard, at least at first – but it will allow you to share the more important part of the festivities, and that is the birthday of the child (for instance).
I have a problem and I need advice. My husband’s daughter has a live in boyfriend and they just had a baby. Right after the baby was born we discovered her boyfriend had stolen 2 gift giftcards from our nightstand in our bedroom. It was completely proven that he did it. When confronted he simply lied and tried to wiggle out of it. He even offered us the money to replace the cards. Later his reaction was this. “Honestly I don’t know if I did it or not. I hope I have not reverted back to my old ways but it’s possible.” My husband’s stayed with him and has treated us differently since this episode. She seems mad at us because we brought it to her attention. We have not spoken or seen him since and they live 2 blocks away. She brings the baby over now and he stays home. WE feel like we might be able to get past it if he would just own upand get everything out and on the table for dicussion. Family birthdays are coming up soon. We don’t want him around and are not quite sure how to handle it. We know they will have a 1 year old party for the baby. If invited what then?
i work with a co-worker that must steal something every day before she can go home must time it is a small item is she sick or something and can not help here srlf
I think that stealing is one of the worst crime a person can atempt. They do not relize how big of a crime it really is. People steal for all different kinds of reasons such as, they think it’s ok or they have no money and have to support a family or may be because they are pressured ect. I now alot of people that have stolen and got away with it and it is just wrong.
Katie, let met start by saying that this may not be the best forum for true help. It’s just that, well, it is the Interenet, and you may or may not get what you need out of it.
That said, I would suggest that you may want to seek more professional help. This might be more of a medical professional (psych) or it might even be more of a moral professional – for instance, the pastor of a church. Also let me mention I am not any of these things, and it’s probably unlikely that most people here are – so please take any advice (even, or especially, mine!) with a grain of salt.
Whatever the case, I suspect that your boyfriend may have a problem – it might be one that he can control, it might not. Whichever is actually the case, he needs help, and unfortunately it might be something that you can’t help.
At some point he’ll need to decide if he is more interested in the proceeds of his actions (and potentially the results thereof), or if he is more interested in real life – namely you.
Hi, i’m really concerned with my boyfriend and I dont know what to do, he has really only just begun to steal from shop and his own workplace! He’s 17 and was arrested last week for the attempted theft of store goods ($620 mp3 player) him and another work mate asked my friend who also works at Target in Perth for the Mp3 suggesting it was needed in refunds, the good was handed over and then place safely in another section of the store to be claimed later. The other bloke was caught red handed. I’m dissappointed and small thefts had happened earlier, make-up for me over stock take, a $60 belt from the surf shop, mp3 from the soiled and damaged section, what am I suppose to do!! I feel like I have to end it because he is just getting worse but I love him so so much, like no-one ever before. Help me!
And I think that is the thing. In many cases, these people would get what they want – in fact, many would get more than they want – if they but asked for help.
You could say pride stands in the way, but I would say that in the end, people just feel like they deserve whatever they desire. Taking it is a much faster way to that end than working for it – or even asking for it.