Stealing is bad

Stealing is bad. That’s what my father told me. That’s why I was so nervous when I pocketed the wallet. It was a nice little black tri-fold number, with a price tag I couldn’t afford, no matter how many afternoons I stood outside Domino’s Pizza waving my wobbleboard at passing traffic. I walked out of the classy department store next to my dad, the wallet bulging ominously in the pocket of my school trousers as we passed the security guards. I still love that wallet.

I recently told my father the story of how I stole that wallet as a fourteen year-old while shopping with him. He told me he was disappointed. No shit, dad. But it got me thinking; when is stealing not so bad? I still feel absolutely no guilt for stealing that wallet. I’m pretty sure it didn’t dent the store’s profit margins in selling overpriced goods to wankers. In fact, I’m quite certain that I gave my wallet a better home, rather than condemning it to the pocket of a yuppie for the two weeks until it wasn’t trendy anymore.

People steal every day. We steal each other’s looks, mannerisms, phrases, opinions and ideas. We often steal other people’s jokes and conveniently forget to give them credit (anyone who doesn’t do this is a liar). In fact, short of taking people’s belongings, we often steal on a daily basis. Most of it, however, is legal. I may feel no guilt for stealing my wallet, but it doesn’t make what I did right. Some people have to steal to survive. To trivialize their circumstances would be wrong. Bloody good wallet, though.