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 think people steal because they think they can, and they don’t think they will have to answer to god for it. i had a girlfriend that wondered how much i loved her and trusted her, and so i gave her several thousand dollars to put in her account. she left town one night while i was away and of course she took the money with her. however she did send a portion back. maybe it was guilt. maybe it was pity.one day she will answer to god for her actions. it is a shame that she chose to steal what i would of given freely had she only asked.
People need to quit stealing and get a job or run errands!
My BF of three years told me exactly two months ago to this day that …”He needed to follow his BLISS” and that his part of the relationship was over. I was stunned, because five days earlier he was talking about having kids together.
Come to find out that he STOLE from me. Over the course of three to six months, he had managed to lift 8K out of my business and personal accounts. He did this by stealing my ATM code, stealing the cards from my purse, charging things online and throwing out bank statements. He also signed me up for credit cards without my knowledge.
Why do people steal? Why do people steal from people they know? Is it because they think they won’t be caught? When he said, “I need to follow my Bliss” … he meant … “I need to follow my Bliss with your ATM card in my possession.”
When he left he stole my car, one of my laptops, still has my bike and I assume he stored a bunch of cash he had in a safe. The funny part is I reported the compter stolen to DELL and he wrote me an email after he tried to get service and DELL told him the computer had been stolen. Isn’t that like the cops calling a killer to tell them that they are on the way, so get out of the house? Why didn’t DELL just say they would service it … repossess it and return it to me?
Why is everything so dysfunctional?
It’s hard for me to tell if he just went back on drugs (likely) or if he genuinely had a nervous breakdown. But I did love him at one time and he loved me. He has … a sense of entitlement. I think he’s a Narcissist. Lack of understanding that he may have financially ruined me. Lack of caring that he stole.
Should he be turned in? Even the POLICE here told me not to. The police officer I know told me “The guy is nuts. It’s only money. You don’t want him to kill you over money.”
So why do people steal? Somehow I feel that I HAVE to get the answer, that it’ll make me feel better. It’s why I am typing into various search engines .. “Why do people steal?”
And I like the name Ben.
Broken hearted and really really pissed off,
Eve
My grandfather was named Ben. The new Pope is Benedict XVI . So here’s my two cents. Stealing , like cheating and littering is all relative to cultural demographics. Some intrinsic values of different societies produce very different results. Sometimes these conditions occur only miles apart. Most are worlds apart. They do have one thing in common. They are all rooted in education or lack there of. Stealing and it’s consqences is a lesson better learned in pre-school along with some other fundemental mores. Of course , thankful for the Grace of God do we persevere .
This is directed towards the previous response abouve mine. I am shamed that you disgrace the name of Ben. It is never right to steal, even if it is for survival. Think about the bakery that had the bread stolen. Lets say he operates in an impovrished neighborhood, and on a givenday he loses only 3 loaves to theft. Then he would have to sell about 5 loaves of bread everyday to pay for the loss of money from the stolen three. So now we have a baker who losses more from that stolen loaves then the stealer gains. The theft not only hurts the baker but his family, his employees, and all people who depend on his bread for food.
Ok… So now that im done ranting on that entry i think its time to address the fellow that says stealing is natural. Knowing from past experience I can easily say that stealing is very unnatural. There is a tension that hangs over the act. A fear of being caught and the guilt that follows it. Everything about stealing is not free flowing. The very idea of something for nothing is one that mankind is very wary of. How often have ever believed one of those crudy infomercials that promise 1000$ a week for only minimal work? If you have I also have a lovely bridge for sale over on cape cod canal. Human nature is to doubt and have faith at the same time. You may believe that you are right in stealing but you doubt you will get away with it. This is about as close you can get to “natural” when it comes to stealing. Well I think i have vented enough for today.
people should not have the right to steal things.
there are many reasons why people may steal, like if they have a family to feed and no money.
But only then would they have to steal. if they stole a loaf of bread to feed a family then this may be acepable but if they had todl someone of their situation then I am sure someone would help out
It’s because it’s human instict. People steal because it’s natural.
I think the end result of it all is the same. Namely, why do people feel that they are entitled to something that belongs to another? You can go back to the bible if you like. But even if you don’t look at the bible as a guidebook, or even if you aren’t particularly religious at all, surely most people can comprehend the concept of ownership. I just don’t understand what makes someone believe that they have a right to take something from someone else. It’s important to realize that this isn’t just about “criminals”. The government does it too. Just because it is the government doesn’t make it any more right.
I think is a great question with tons of implications. It would be great to compile a list of all the reasons why people steal. Above, we have:
1. can’t or won’t pay.
2. don’t think it has an impact
how about:
3. revenge
4. entitled
People in our society find small theft as acceptable as jay-walking. It isn’t considered such a large issue in many peoples opinion because all they can’t, or don’t take the time to realize that what they steal has an impact- whether it’s big or small. Many people feel if they steal from big stores or companies it wont have any affect because big coorperations have billions and billions of dollars along with government funding and such. To change this people need to be more educated in buisness and government, funding needs to be focused more on social programs and education instead of military spending, and it wouldn’t hurt to thin out the gap between the rich and the poor, openning up more high level jobs for a larger variety of people. However thats just my utopia, I’m sure everyone has their own opinion on things.