A $20 Theft and the state of today's youth. A personal experience.

reply to post by 74Templar


Nothing criminal went on. It was your slip there gain, morals are dead. But then again go back 2 hundred years to more "moral" times 90% of pickpockets were kids. So oh well its not like they broke a law nor could the manager call the police on them.

my 11 year old would have let you know you left the money in the tray before you left the store

100% guaranteed

it's ignorant to judge millions of kids on the actions of 2

kids have been doing the wrong thing in every generation since the beginning of time

spare us the melodrama

reply to post by 74Templar


A woman at a convenience store wasnt as lucky as those two girls. She saw the man drop a wad of cash and picked it up and kept it. She was arrested for theft.

link

Paparo has been charged with misdemeanor counts of theft and receiving stolen property and was released on $10,000 bail, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. "She saw it. She knew whose money it was," Upper Darby Police Superintendant Michael Chitwood told the paper. "She didn't make any effort to return the money to the individual. It's a theft."

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
Sorry, I don't think it's "stealing" if someone forgets their change.

This is your fault, not the 12 year old's. Sure, it may have been dishonest if they knew it was yours, as you claim.. But it's possible they didn't even make that connection. They are 12.

I'm going to tell my kids tonight that if they find change in the change slot of a candy machine, soda machine, payphone, self-service cash register, etc, it's theirs. If some fool is going to leave their change I don't think anyone else has a responsibility to track them down and give it back.

As we used to say when I was a wee little guy: Finders keepers.


I personally think you should track down these 12 year olds and apologize for your actions that caused them to get in trouble. YOU left the money, and once you left the premises it was no longer your money, in my opinion. This was NOT stealing.

Wow. I certainly wasn't prepared for this can of worms.

Firstly, your notion is ridiculous. Your morals are obviously a non-issue to you.

I would like to further adress this post by saying today I have seen the video footage for myself today. It clearly shows the girls see the money, and while I'm still in shot of the cameras, one girl distracts the attendant while the other fishes the money out of the draw. They then have a little dance waving the money around at the camera before walking off. All within 30 seconds of me leaving. This not only says they intended to steal regardless, it was a pre-meditated action.

Secondly, it was the choice of the girls mother, not me, not the store, that they were made to return the money. The mother told the the store manager to "scare them straight." This to me is not a bad thing, and before you bleeding-hearts out there that think this kind of thing is acceptable, consider this;

These two kids have been taught an important lesson about action and consequence. This will be a good lesson for when they grow up, because if the same thing happened at their jobs, ie; they happen to see some money laying around that belongs to their employer, if they have been getting away with it since age 12, what would stop them then? They get caught, get fired, and of course ruin most chance of future employment with their untrustworthiness. From someone who has managed 20 years in retail, in constant touch with money, trust and integrity are a big deal. Lose that trust, and you fall outside the employ of much of the job market. The problem with a lot of kids is they are not taught action and consequence, and thus we have this problem in society today. People molly-coddle their kids rather than teach them the realities of life. It's people like you that nurture this lack of real world experience.

Lastly, apologise? Really? So by your logic, say you leave your keys in your car by accident tonight. Some 15 year old kid sees it, and takes it for a joyride, smashes it up. But that's ok, because you were the idiot that left the keys in the ignition. It's not the kid's fault, it's yours for putting that temptation to him. So you're going to be the one apologising when you have to pay for a new car? Or if you leave your window open at home, and some kid breaks in, smashes up your house ans steals all your valueables. Same again, it's not the kid's fault right? It's the idiot who left the window open. Again, I guess you owe that kid an apology for putting temptation in his way.

This is not some youth bashing thread of an old man saying all kids are bad eggs who have little thought of their consequences anymore. This is not some thread of me whining about losing $20 and then wasting all these resources to get it back. I wanted to point out that it seems to me this "age of innocence" we as parents all felt does not disappear until children are young adults is becoming less and less as time goes on, as kids seem to lose that innocence sooner, something that as a parent concerns me greatly.

You, however, seem to have no problem with that, so I await your karma when you're the one on the receiving end. I'm sure the apology list will be long and distinguished.

While I believe the OP should have been more careful with her money, I can't quite wrap my head around the 'finder's keepers' mindset. Maybe it is because I grew up in a small town where folks looked after one another, and you did not have to have bars on your windows, alarm systems, and security doors.

My question to the people who believe that it is ok to knowingly take others valuables (which, no matter how you look at it, these girls did do that), is this: Where does it stop? If you drop your credit card, and I find it, is it shopping spree time for me? If you leave your car unlocked, with the keys in it, and I find it, is it now mine? How about your house, or (gasp) your children? Do I have to write my name on every dollar I have (and then, would it still be mine, even after I spent it, cause it had my name on it)? I'm hoping you can see the ridiculousness of these questions, and hope that you teach your children to always attempt to do the right thing, first, before assuming it for their own.

Case in point: Yesterday a customer came into my work, and signed a credit card slip, leaving behind his pen. I did not know he left it, but found it in with the others, and liked it. So, I pulled it out to use around the job, and took it home with me that night. The next day when I show up to work, my boss is freaking out, and asked me if I found a gold pen, last night. I asked why, and he explained that a customer had called, saying it was a solid gold pen, worth a few hundred dollars that he left behind. Without a second thought, I lifted my hand, and said,"Like this one?". He gave me a huge look of relief, smiled, and said, "Thank God someone with morals found it." That makes me feel better than anything a few dollars can temporarily do. (And, the pens owner left $20.00 as a reward, anyway).

Last thing I'd like to say is that, despite it all, kids are kids and do dumb things. Always have, always will. But, it is the adults of the world's job to correct them, so they can live peacefully with their neighbors. It sounds as if this was done in this case, as the money was returned, and all is well. Lesson learned by all involved. Don't dwell. Time to move on.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
reply to post by 74Templar

 

Originally posted by 74Templar
Sadly the Store Manager informed me this is not the only occurence, they have had numerous thefts from the self-serves, including a middle-aged man who stole $40 that another customer left behind. This one did involve the Police, and charges were filed.

This makes me wonder the most, above all else, what is the youth of today coming to?

How can you blame this on "youth", when you talk of a middle-aged man doing the same thing? There are people of all ages who would steal the money and people of all ages who would return it. Don't blame this on youth based on your ONE example... It isn't about young people, it's about people who steal money, at any age.

This one I can agree on, I made the connection based on that, that all kids aren't the same as these two. The forty year old absolutely should have known better, and deserved to be charged for it.

I have seen many in this thread so far say with conviction their own kids would do the right thing, and to me that is a good thing. It shows conscience, both of the child and of the parent.

My point was my concern the ease these young children decided to take the easy path and steal something they knew was not rightfully theirs. I know at some point I will have to deal with it from my own kids, because that is the nature of learning. Their mother could have said nothing, and kept the money, instead she chose the high road and taught her kids a lesson about consequence. All I hope out of this is these kids have some kind of awakening for the future, and take from this the difference between right and wrong, and it serves them well for their future.

reply to post by eatbliss


Couldn't agree more. And of course, you are right. It is time to move on. Lessons learned from all sides