And now it all comes crashing back
I was caught twice. Age 12 and 13.
Once in Woolworths in the Cherry Hill Mall. Interesting that 4 years later I was manning their grill at as a short order cook in their restaurant.
My mom came and picked me up and she had a discussion with my father. They were recently separated. Of course it was all their fault. So what did they do? Nothing.
A few months later I was at the Echelon Mall and I simply wanted to buy some cigarettes at the CVS. Of course they were not selling them to me that day since I was 13. They did occasionally. So I was pissed and I grabbed some candy on the way out.
Store security grabbed me a few stores later. Marched me back and had me empty my pockets and that's where they found the half ounce of rainbow weed. It was so pretty and so sweet.
So they called the real police and transferred me to the police station.
I was with a friend at the time. I called my mom and he called my dad and they met at the police station.
I'm pretty sure that my dad paid off the cops. Not 100%. It could have just been a friendly conversation. But the bottom line is everything disappeared.
And then they took me back to my dad's house and sat me down and gave me a lecture. About getting caught. And the long-term ramifications. And raised my allowance so I wouldn't be tempted to do stupid shit like that again. Just buy the damn candy. This is stupid.
Obviously the behavior has nothing to do with the money. I had money in my pocket both times that could easily pay for whatever I was stealing many times over.
I got $5 weekly for allowance in 1976. That's worth $27 today. And that was for straight consumption. If I wanted to go to the movies or the roller skating rink or whatever my dad would pay for it along with extra pocket money. And then they raised my allowance to $20, which equals $110 today. If I wanted anything that cost more than what my allowance could buy I could almost always get it. Maybe not immediately, but I was rarely disappointed.
I was obviously stealing for the fun until the ramifications outweighed the fun.
Once in Woolworths in the Cherry Hill Mall. Interesting that 4 years later I was manning their grill at as a short order cook in their restaurant.
My mom came and picked me up and she had a discussion with my father. They were recently separated. Of course it was all their fault. So what did they do? Nothing.
A few months later I was at the Echelon Mall and I simply wanted to buy some cigarettes at the CVS. Of course they were not selling them to me that day since I was 13. They did occasionally. So I was pissed and I grabbed some candy on the way out.
Store security grabbed me a few stores later. Marched me back and had me empty my pockets and that's where they found the half ounce of rainbow weed. It was so pretty and so sweet.
So they called the real police and transferred me to the police station.
I was with a friend at the time. I called my mom and he called my dad and they met at the police station.
I'm pretty sure that my dad paid off the cops. Not 100%. It could have just been a friendly conversation. But the bottom line is everything disappeared.
And then they took me back to my dad's house and sat me down and gave me a lecture. About getting caught. And the long-term ramifications. And raised my allowance so I wouldn't be tempted to do stupid shit like that again. Just buy the damn candy. This is stupid.
Obviously the behavior has nothing to do with the money. I had money in my pocket both times that could easily pay for whatever I was stealing many times over.
I got $5 weekly for allowance in 1976. That's worth $27 today. And that was for straight consumption. If I wanted to go to the movies or the roller skating rink or whatever my dad would pay for it along with extra pocket money. And then they raised my allowance to $20, which equals $110 today. If I wanted anything that cost more than what my allowance could buy I could almost always get it. Maybe not immediately, but I was rarely disappointed.
I was obviously stealing for the fun until the ramifications outweighed the fun.
