In Which A Would-Be Thief Gets the Fear of God Put Into Him

[Mikkel]

Logically, if the police had been called on a child, his parents would be told anyway.
You handled it just right, though. He won't do that again.

[thehuckster]

I'm glad this wasn't another one of those "How could you believe my angel of a son did this?! Obviously you forged the video footage, waterboarded him to confess, and forced him to put finger prints on the cigars!"

I think calling the parents was the right call. He is still a minor, and still has time to grow up and be a good adult citizen. It looks like his parents are going to give him the justice he deserves, and he'll have learned a lesson from all of this without having something on his record. He should be lucky he doesn't have a record right now.

[BrenDAnn]

Thanks for the support, guys! Had he been the least belligerent about it or refused to return the cigars, yes, I'd have called the police. As it was, he was nothing but a crying, trembling ball of goo once we got him back to the store. Yeah...He won't be stealing anything again, methinks!

[Mr Hero]

somebody's ass was grass and Mama DG was the mower.

I may have to steal this some time.

[Jester]

Ah, stealing. I won't say we've all done it, since not everyone has, but most of us at one point or another when we were younger did engage in this kind of activity, whether it was from our parents (guilty), from stores (guilty), from friends (absolutely not guilty), or from siblings (not guilty, though did get blamed for it when everyone knew that it was my little sister that stole from my stepbrother).

My career as a thief was cut short when I was caught stealing by the assistant manager of the bookstore I was liberating product from, whom I had a friendly relationship with. I don't know that I can remember a time from my childhood where I felt sicker to my stomach than when that happened. And he didn't call the cops, he didn't tell his boss, the manager, and he didn't call my parents. He just expressed his disappointment (see below), and allowed me to go on my way. And that kicked in the gut feeling I had, and the memory of it, pretty much ended my juvenile thieving career.

The punishment mums issue is so much worse, because it's usually of the "I'm just so disappointed" variety...

I actually got to use that line once on one of my nieces. She had done something astronomically stupid, something she is far smarter than, and when I found out, we had a discussion about it. And while my first instinct was to just go OFF on her, all I did was say the old cliched, "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed."

I cannot remember a time in her life when that niece was in worse spirits than when I unleashed that on her. I knew it was effective, but I had no idea how much until I used it myself. Keep in mind, it is only effective if it is sincere, and this was very sincere. I promise you one thing....that niece will never forget that discussion.

In my house growing up, we didn't fear God . . . we feared MOM.

As it was so eloquently said in the movie, "The Crow":

"Mother is the name for God on the lips and hearts of all children."

'Nuff said.

I may have to steal this some time.

Hasn't this thread taught you that stealing is wrong?

[rose_metal_nz]

Awww, this story brings a tear to my eye. Good to see there's hope for the future after all!

[Mr Hero]

I can imagine the conversation going something like this when the boy gets home.

"How could you? Haven't you learned anything from that guy who gives those sermons at church? Captain Whatshisname? We live in a society of laws. Why do you think I took you to all those "Police Academy" movies? For fun? Well, I didn't hear anybody laughing! Did you?

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

As much as this made me laugh, why do I get the feeling SK's mom is the one he's worried about?

When a father gets pissed off at a kid, the punishment is swift. Be it a grounding or having your ass tanned to a fare-thee-well.

But once it's done, it's done.

Mothers on the other hand can stretch the punishment on for years. Every wrong thing you do from that moment on will be compared to that first incident and becomes a lecture on how you are a horrid child for putting your mother through that all over again.

Even if the new incident is far less than the first. They paint with guilt like Van Gogh paints with oils.

[Jester]

Mothers on the other hand can stretch the punishment on for years.

To this DAY my mother, as a commentary on my proclivity to procrastinate, will still occasionally bring up the report on Williamsburg that I never handed in...in the second grade.

I'll be 42 in June.

[BroSCFischer]

Yeah, juvie almost sounds better!

Considering that you would probably have to face BOTH (parents and Juvie) if the police are called, I think I can understand why he begged for his parents.

SC

[Nemesis44UK]

Wow, this was a truly heart-warming tale. Hurrah for decent parents! I also thought they might have gone off on you - "how dare you accuse young Blaine of stealing, he would do no such thing!"

Instead, they did the decent thing, which is nice.

[tropicsgoddess]

My sisters and I never shoplifted but if any of us did and were caught, our parents would've raised holy hell on us and we would be grounded for life too! I'm glad that kid got the fear of god in him when he got caught (and even more with his parents) stealing the cigarillos.