The woman that came up with this is a moron.
Its okay to steal if you are poor?? I'll just stand over here and LMFAO.
It might not be OK but sometimes it is just plain old survival.
I know from experience
in jail you get three meals a day, just given to you.
If DEATH is the alternative, then not arresting the thieves is not doing them any favors.
How much time do you suppose a 14 year old will get for stealing a bag of chips because he hadn't eaten all day?
I have no idea, and if you think that is the average shoplifter, you never worked in retail.
Shoplifters are more often drug addicts looking for something they can sell or trade for drugs.
I never mentioned anyone who stole for profit.
I said that for some poverty is a real reason to commit a crime. I used myself as an example. I never stole a lot of merchandise to sell on the streets.
I shoplifted because I would often go hungry.
It's so easy for you to lump the hungry kid who steals pop tarts with the people who steal multiple expensive items of clothing from a department store because you cannot or do not want to believe that sometimes the poor have to make a choice. Obey the law or go hungry.
When I started selling weed I didn't shoplift because I didn't have to but I suppose you'll equate me with Pablo Escobar because I sold nickel and dime bags of weed so I could have money to buy a winter coat right?
Don't judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes