Shoplifting and... I have a few words.

So yesterday I saw someone shoplifting at the tail end of the "experience". I mean I did not see the parts I had to in order to stop the person, but I saw him tearing open packaging and stuffing the product into his pocket. This is where working loss prevention pisses me off. In order to make a stop there are certain elements you need; unfortunately I was unable to get the elements until after he had left the store already... with his children.

What bothers me is not that this person was stealing while he had his children with him, it was that he was stealing WITH his children! His children were stealing too! These kids were not old, they were maybe 12 or 13 at the oldest, 8 or 9 at the youngest (I am guessing from their appearance). One kid walked in wearing one outfit and walked out wearing something new entirely. So that tells me this man is TRAINING his kids to steal! ON A MILITARY BASE!!!!

So yeah... today when I go in I will go over all the video footage I was able to pull and save of this man and his children stealing, enough footage to turn it over to the military police I hope... to include his license plate number.

The upsetting thing about this is that I saw first hand at what is going wrong with America. I saw that not all parents really care about their children. Not all parents want their children to do well and make something out of themselves. Not all parents want their children to stay out of trouble. I saw one parent (I have no idea what the mom is like) walk into a store with his two boys and encourage them to steal. It is sad. If this is allowed and encouraged what else have they been taught?

Those boys have been set up for a life of failure. They have been set up for a life of crime that will slowly escalate. They have been set up for a mentality that makes everyone other than themselves responsible for their actions. "THE WORLD OWES ME!" It is sad for many reasons that I really cannot articulate now. It's like a 16 year old that I caught shoplifting earrings but he bought a package of baby bottles... and he had a HUGE wad of cash in his pocket, like dealing drugs wad of cash (he reeked of pot too), and the only thing his mom said to him was "Why are you buying baby bottles?"

Don't blame lack of religion, because I am not religious and my children have grown up to be law abiding individuals that care about others. They don't roam the streets at night breaking into cars and homes, they don't steal, they don't deal drugs, they don't vandalize any property... I raised them. I talked to them, I gave them consequences for their actions, I made sure the consequences were harsh enough that they would think about that next time the thought to do wrong would even cross their mind! I am not saying my children are perfect. They are not. They make mistakes... hell my youngest was caught shoplifting years ago, but he has not done it since.

Don't blame music, movies, or video games either. My kids played those games that most would view as questionable... but I talked to them about it, talked to them about how it was wrong and people shouldn't behave that way. I didn't say it was cool or glorify the behavior in any way. The problem is parents not parenting anymore. The mindset of many people today is the problem. Hell, even some of the laws are the problem! Can't spank a kid today without CPS putting their noses into the situation! So many don't believe in spanking their kids because they didn't like it when they were kids. No, we didn't like it, that's the point. It kept us from doing stupid shit because it made us think twice about what we were going to do! You can spank without it being abuse. Period. There is a line.