The Dean Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 So I'm working at Hollywood Video (among other jobs) to make some money this summer until classes start up and my on-campus job starts. The other day, this young kid (probably in the range of 11-13) ambles into the store and starts browsing the shelves. Now, the store is located right next to a skate park and we get a lot of kids this age so it didn't really raise any red flags, and the store was pretty busy so I wasn't paying much attention to him. About 5 minutes later, a dude from the video game store next to us catches the kid trying to walk off with about $8 worth of concession merchandise (a few things of candy and a soda), so the GameCrazy guy takes the kid back to our counter so that I can deal with him. He had already opened up the stuff that he tried to steal so I couldn't just put it back on the shelves. First, I tell him to call his parents and see if they'll come down and pay. He tries calling but neither one will help him out. Then, he asks me if he can pay for the stuff with food stamps and I tell him no. At this point, I don't have much recourse but to involve the authorities or just let him off the hook. Rather than complicate the situation further, I just paid for the food out of my wallet and sent him on his way with a stern warning about how we wouldn't be so forgiving the next time and that I'd better not see his face again in the store without an adult. So the kid leaves (without so much as saying thanks, by the way). At the time, seemed like the right thing to do but now I'm not so sure. I hate to think that I helped teach the kid that he can get away with this sort of things, and maybe he'd actually be better off getting caught stealing $8 worth of stuff before he grows up and tries armed robbery or something. Any thoughts on this? I'm a decent guy, and I like to think everybody deserves a second chance when it comes to such a petty crime, but maybe being a softie was the wrong decision here? I have read no other replies, but wanted to chime in anyway. I can't be sure if you did the right thing, but you did what I would have done in that situation. Deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac17 Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 typical liberal response - "please don't do it again. I'll even pay for it for you" sorry, had to get that in it's a tough call either way, but maybe you should have sat him down and made him watch some horrible movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I would have gotten a copy of Deliverance off the shelf, started calling the kid "Ned", then told him his punishment would be to watch the movie with me. He'd learn his lesson right about the time you reached for the hand lotion. You did fine......he was at least $8 scared I am sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Welcome to dealing with the younger generation. Welcome to our world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 So I'm working at Hollywood Video (among other jobs) to make some money this summer until classes start up and my on-campus job starts. The other day, this young kid (probably in the range of 11-13) ambles into the store and starts browsing the shelves. Now, the store is located right next to a skate park and we get a lot of kids this age so it didn't really raise any red flags, and the store was pretty busy so I wasn't paying much attention to him. About 5 minutes later, a dude from the video game store next to us catches the kid trying to walk off with about $8 worth of concession merchandise (a few things of candy and a soda), so the GameCrazy guy takes the kid back to our counter so that I can deal with him. He had already opened up the stuff that he tried to steal so I couldn't just put it back on the shelves. First, I tell him to call his parents and see if they'll come down and pay. He tries calling but neither one will help him out. Then, he asks me if he can pay for the stuff with food stamps and I tell him no. At this point, I don't have much recourse but to involve the authorities or just let him off the hook. Rather than complicate the situation further, I just paid for the food out of my wallet and sent him on his way with a stern warning about how we wouldn't be so forgiving the next time and that I'd better not see his face again in the store without an adult. So the kid leaves (without so much as saying thanks, by the way). At the time, seemed like the right thing to do but now I'm not so sure. I hate to think that I helped teach the kid that he can get away with this sort of things, and maybe he'd actually be better off getting caught stealing $8 worth of stuff before he grows up and tries armed robbery or something. Any thoughts on this? I'm a decent guy, and I like to think everybody deserves a second chance when it comes to such a petty crime, but maybe being a softie was the wrong decision here? wrong thing..but your intentions were good.So you created a lifetime criminal .No big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If I was your boss, I'd can your ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You said you were busy? Why didn't you put him to work for an hour or so? I would have made him read shelves at the very least. Can you still do this in society? EDIT: Make him clean the head or the breakroom too! Give him something to do for an hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I think you shoulda given him the old Las vegas treatment...take him into the back room and crush his grubby little fingers with a ball peen hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopsGuy Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You have a paying job? I'm proud of you Sage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damj Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Your heart was in the right place, but given the parents lack of concern, getting the police involved would've been better. Maybe the little turd-burgler would've gotten scared straight by this minor offense before evolving into something more major ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stussy109 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 In a few situations like these that I have been in. i have called the cops, and let it get to the point where they're about to hand cuff him, then i decide not to press charges. gets the point across without ruining the kids life. You still look like a good guy in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Even if you did not help the kid learn a lesson you helped yourself by being a decent guy. What a shame that his parents did nothing. Sad to think the kid gets no instruction or order (discipline if you want) in his life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If I was your boss, I'd can your ass. Wow this is rather harsh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOBILLS78 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You didn't affect the kid's future actions one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 You did your best at that time. Looking bad at it and thinking about how you might have handled differently is good. Worrying about it or doubting yourself is wasted energy. You tried to do the right thing. That is all you can ever ask of yourself. IF you catch him again, toast him. LOL Ya did fine Sage. Life is a carnival. So I'm working at Hollywood Video (among other jobs) to make some money this summer until classes start up and my on-campus job starts. The other day, this young kid (probably in the range of 11-13) ambles into the store and starts browsing the shelves. Now, the store is located right next to a skate park and we get a lot of kids this age so it didn't really raise any red flags, and the store was pretty busy so I wasn't paying much attention to him. About 5 minutes later, a dude from the video game store next to us catches the kid trying to walk off with about $8 worth of concession merchandise (a few things of candy and a soda), so the GameCrazy guy takes the kid back to our counter so that I can deal with him. He had already opened up the stuff that he tried to steal so I couldn't just put it back on the shelves. First, I tell him to call his parents and see if they'll come down and pay. He tries calling but neither one will help him out. Then, he asks me if he can pay for the stuff with food stamps and I tell him no. At this point, I don't have much recourse but to involve the authorities or just let him off the hook. Rather than complicate the situation further, I just paid for the food out of my wallet and sent him on his way with a stern warning about how we wouldn't be so forgiving the next time and that I'd better not see his face again in the store without an adult. So the kid leaves (without so much as saying thanks, by the way). At the time, seemed like the right thing to do but now I'm not so sure. I hate to think that I helped teach the kid that he can get away with this sort of things, and maybe he'd actually be better off getting caught stealing $8 worth of stuff before he grows up and tries armed robbery or something. Any thoughts on this? I'm a decent guy, and I like to think everybody deserves a second chance when it comes to such a petty crime, but maybe being a softie was the wrong decision here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 So I'm working at Hollywood Video (among other jobs) to make some money this summer until classes start up and my on-campus job starts. The other day, this young kid (probably in the range of 11-13) ambles into the store and starts browsing the shelves. Now, the store is located right next to a skate park and we get a lot of kids this age so it didn't really raise any red flags, and the store was pretty busy so I wasn't paying much attention to him. About 5 minutes later, a dude from the video game store next to us catches the kid trying to walk off with about $8 worth of concession merchandise (a few things of candy and a soda), so the GameCrazy guy takes the kid back to our counter so that I can deal with him. He had already opened up the stuff that he tried to steal so I couldn't just put it back on the shelves. First, I tell him to call his parents and see if they'll come down and pay. He tries calling but neither one will help him out. Then, he asks me if he can pay for the stuff with food stamps and I tell him no. At this point, I don't have much recourse but to involve the authorities or just let him off the hook. Rather than complicate the situation further, I just paid for the food out of my wallet and sent him on his way with a stern warning about how we wouldn't be so forgiving the next time and that I'd better not see his face again in the store without an adult. So the kid leaves (without so much as saying thanks, by the way). At the time, seemed like the right thing to do but now I'm not so sure. I hate to think that I helped teach the kid that he can get away with this sort of things, and maybe he'd actually be better off getting caught stealing $8 worth of stuff before he grows up and tries armed robbery or something. Any thoughts on this? I'm a decent guy, and I like to think everybody deserves a second chance when it comes to such a petty crime, but maybe being a softie was the wrong decision here? Sage, I can appreciate your predicament. I have been there, in the kid's position and yours. I used to manage a Tower Records, and we had massive shoplifting problems. It was a major concern for our store...I am not exaggerating when I say that we caught, on average, a shoplifter every day, with both large and small hauls. As a company, we prosecuted all adult shoplifters, and called the parents of all minors. I will say, there were a handful of times I wished we hadn't. Once, one of our undercover people caught a young kid, about 14 or 15, stuffing some porn magazines down his pants. Problem was, the kid was very ashamed, and the fact that they were gay porn magazines only made it worse. If I had been there, I would have urged security to let him slide, I swear. The kids father came down to the store, was livid, at us, and the kid, and proceeded to take him outside and beat the crap out of him...the police had to be called in...I heard sometime later, from a young girl who worked at our store, and knew this kid, that he hanged himself a few months later...I am sure the kid had other problems, but I couldn't help but feel that his shoplifting incident at our store contributed in some way to the kids' unhappiness... On the other hand, when I was a lad, I had a bad shoplifting habit...I was great at it...scary good...only got caught three times in 6 or 7 years...the first time, I stole a full display box of NBA trading cards...my mom found them, made me go back to the store and fess up to the owner of the store, a small mom and pop pharmacy. My mom didn't tell my dad, because he likely would have beaten the snot out of me... My punishment: I had to go by the pharmacy, every day, after school, for about 2 months, sweep, and clean the sidewalk, and empty trash. Being a "good" little catholic school boy, I felt truly bad, prayed for my salvation, and, for about a year, kept my nose clean...I got popped a year or two later, at Tops supermarket, stealing a Spider Man comic boo, and an issue of Cracked...the young manager who nabbed me, acted very stern, and told me I was not allowed in the store ever again. He called some other employees over, told them to take a good look at me, and make sure to call the cops if they ever saw me in the store again. I was scared..it was the supermarket my parents shopped at, and my dad used to force me to go grocery shopping with him on Sundays, on the way home from church...so, after that, I would go in with my dad, always look down at the floor, and make strange faces, thinking it would make me unrecognizable. It probably just made me look "special" But, after a while, nothing happened. I laid off the five finger discounts for a while... But, I got the itch again...and went on another bender...I started shoplifting things that other kids wanted, and sold it to them dirt cheap (sort of an amature Tony Soprano) ...an idea my older brother and his buddies put in my head...they would tell me what cassettes they wanted my brother assured me, at my age, if I ever got caught, nothing would ever happen to me, because I was a minor...so, at 13, I am in Two Guys, trying to snap those big clunky cassette holders off of the Rolling Stones "Some Girls" and the self titled Boston album, for my brother's buddy..he promised me $2 each. I got caught by undercover store security...I wasn't so lucky this time...they called my parents...my dad answered...as I nervously awaiting his arrival to pick me up, the security guards made me empty my pockets, shined lights in my eyes, took my finger prints (for real) ...I was told that my "file" was being sent to the Buffalo police, as well as all surrounding suburbs, if I got caught again, before I reached 18, I was going to a juvenile home...my dad got there, smacked me around a bit, but not as bad as I thought he might...I never stole so much as a stick of gum after that...as brazen as I was, I still had this fear of burning in eternal hell...I am now very glad I got caught when I did. My brother was right, nothing happened, but the store security (at my fathers' request I came to find out...my dad was a cop) went about "scaring me straight"... my brother never really got caught, until he was an adult...did some time...he learned the hard way... Sorry for the rant...just hit a nerve...I am not a parent, at 44, but I often think back to the lessons in life that you learn, without realizing it...sometimes you don't appreciate how important those lessons were, until much later. I hope your shoplifter learns something... As a postscript, the young store manager who snagged me at Tops, was my boss about 10 years later, I worked for him for about 5 years...he was a great guy...I told him, my last day working at Tops, about our previous run in, all those years ago. He got such a kick out of it...it sounds kind of funny now, in an Andy & Opie kind of way, but getting caught when I did was the best thing that ever happened to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Great story Tex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I think you shoulda given him the old Las vegas treatment...take him into the back room and crush his grubby little fingers with a ball peen hammer. How about the 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' treatment... where you make him eat a few hits of acid and let him sit there and reflect upon himself for a few hours or days maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeseburger_in_paradise Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I think you used excellent judgment. Good job. That kid might go either way, but that's up to him. We need more traditionalists like you. Now if you see him doing something again, in your store, go get him. Two strikes and you are out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I think you used excellent judgment. Good job. That kid might go either way, but that's up to him. We need more traditionalists like you. Now if you see him doing something again, in your store, go get him. Two strikes and you are out. Well put Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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