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People steal for a lot of reasons. Some are compulsive, and some are much simpler and basic than that. It is easy to judge, but having been on both sides of this situation, I have an insight on the subject. As a young teen I found myself in a scary position. I was on my own with my infant daughter, but despite it all I would still refer to myself as a 'good person'. I was basically honest, good to my friends, and if I'd had to describe myself back then I probably would have smiled and called myself a survivor.

To make a long story short, I found myself supporting my daughter and my younger sister, and in those days if things weren't working out at home or your parents were abusive you didn't have the options that we do today. There were no safety nets. If we had called anyone for help, they would have taken my sister and put her in foster care. Then they would have hounded my mother to take her back because that was their mandate - to reunite families with their children whenever possible. Instead, when my mother said, 'You take her or I'll send her to a home', meaning a government run receiving home which is incidental where I had been since age 11, I of course took her. So, with money running out, a baby who needed things, a fifteen year old sister who ate me out of house and home (not really understanding the full financial implications of living with me and money), I was becoming desperate. I was working full time nights so that I could see my daughter during the day, and my younger sister was supposed to just be there at night while she slept and I worked, to save the sitter fees. Well, the youngster partied her way into an eviction notice for me and within 30 days I found myself homeless as well.

At this point, I stole to eat. By the end of the month, we had been eating rice with salt and pepper every day for over a week. It was all we had. Well, that and formula for the baby. I guess I snapped. One night when I had the night off, I dressed myself all in black clothing and went around the neighborhood raiding freezers for food. We didn't take much (I took my sister with me - which meant taking my daughter in her stroller also) because we couldn't carry much, but all we really wanted was to eat. That's a long way to say that sometimes people steal because they are just that desperate. To all of you in 1980 in Richmond who noticed you were short a little Borscht, I apologize.

That all said, now with the kinds of safety nets in place, there are fewer and fewer reasons to steal. Most can be boiled down to greed, drugs, or simple compulsion.

Learn more about this author, C Davison.
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