I\u2019m reading a new book today, it\u2019s set in NZ around the time I was growing up, and one of the teenage characters has just stolen a mascara from a chemist.<\/p>\n
This has released a flood of memories from my childhood. I remember being around the age of six, stealing lollies from whatever the local equivalent was of a dairy in England, and getting caught. Of course in my panic I gave my real name and home phone number, rube that I was. Watching TV at home that evening with my family, waiting for the phone to ring, was a feeling of existential dread that has barely been matched in my life since. The phone rang, my father answered and the house was in an uproar. Oddly enough, I don\u2019t remember any punishment, but I do remember my siblings asking me what was I thinking?!?<\/p>\n
Fast forward a few years, now living in NZ, I had learned my lesson, and never stole again. Ha ha as if! I was very easily led, and picked up tips from friends, principally the one who grew up to be the antivax naturopath, strangely enough (who is otherwise a lovely person, I must say). It was only ever lollies, though, apart from that one time (or actually several times over the course of one evening) that I stole money out of my dad\u2019s wallet to buy deep fried things at the local chippie. I was never caught again but stopped in my teenage years when I had other things to worry about.<\/p>\n
I have no idea if any of my kids ever stole anything? If so they were never caught. Apart from, that is, that one time – again it was from dad\u2019s wallet , and the money went on lollies. It was $50 that time – that\u2019s inflation for you. To be honest I again cannot remember any ensuing punishment, apart from peer pressure and shame from the rest of us.
\nIs petty theft a stage we all go through? I seem to remember shocking statistics from shop owners on how much of their inventory they lose in this way. I suspect such thievery is also corrosive to the soul. Funny, but not really.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m reading a new book today, it\u2019s set in NZ around the time I was growing up, and one of the teenage characters has just stolen a mascara from a chemist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3fz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1098,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/01\/and-now-i-am-soggy\/","url_meta":{"origin":12497,"position":0},"title":"and now I am soggy","author":"Interloper11","date":"December 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"My second swim of the summer! 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