Liars, thieves and more depressing thoughts

Before my mother beat me so badly she was always calling me names. She was always telling me I was a liar, a thief and a rotten child amongst all the other names, like bastard, SOB, little brat, etc.

After she beat me and I didn't cry I decided if I had the name I might as well play the game. Sheesh, if your going to be beaten for something you didn't do you might as well be doing it and get something out of it.

For the next ten years I was the lyingest, thievingest kid around, no matter where I lived. I seldom got caught. I'd steal from almost anyone and I just didn't care. My sister got everything so I decided stealing was the way to get mine.

I was the best shoplifter I've ever known. Of course all of this was before security cameras and all the surveillance stuff thee is now. Nothing was tagged and if you had the balls you could just walk out with it.

One year I stole every Christmas present I gave. I shoplifted every one of them. I got caught shoplifting just once and got out of it anyway. Two friends had bet me I couldn't steal 7 boxes of chocolate covered cherries. So I went to the grocery store next door with my big parka on and looked it over.

Then I started putting boxes of the chocolate covered cherries in my coat. Don't ya know I got caught sticking the 7th box inside my coat. The people from the store hauled me into the office and told me to give the cherries back so I took out two boxes and put them on the desk. They said they knew I took more so I took out another one and put it on the desk.

After doing that they nicely told me don't ever come back into our store and escorted me out. I went next door to the bowling alley where my friends were. and told them I'd gotten caught. Lol, they were surprised as hell that even tho I'd gotten caught I still managed to get away with four boxes.

All in all I managed to steal almost everything and the vast majority of it was from stores. Rifles, bicycles, bullets so I could go hunting, clothes, toys, fishing equipment, candy and books. I turned in a juvenile delinquent and loved the bad ass rep it gave me. Besides the fact I would fight at the drop of a hat.

It wasn't until I left home for good at the age of 17 that I stopped stealing things from stores. I now know that getting away from my mother and stepfather caused several changes in my behavior, all for the better. Perhaps because I was less depressed about my situation and was very happy not to be living at home.

At one point in my life, as a 14 year old I had over 2000 dollars buried here and there around the town I lived in. Kids didn't have much money back then so I had a paper rout to cover the fact I had money. I still had to take a 20 dollar bill to the store and buy bread and milk tho to get the bill broken down and not cause suspicion.

I had no fear of getting caught and even being in a jail for kids, don't remember what they called it back then but it was the juvenile version of an adult prison. The only thing I knew for sure is it wouldn't be as bad as living at home.

So how depressed and abused is a kid who'd rather be in jail than living at home. Child abuse does some really bad things to the minds of children. At some point I stopped all of that behavior and it was before I was 21.

As I said before, most of the people in prison had a past where they were abused. Because no one did much about child abuse we just kept building more prisons to put people in when they got old enough. Perhaps it might be better to stop the abuse and raise productive people rather than let them be abused and then act out and get put in prison when they are older.

We really need to fix two things in this country and it will solve about 50% of the crime problem. Stop child abuse and do something about poverty. Get kids jobs, get their parents some good jobs and some of it will stop. Be more vigilant about catching abusers and making sure that kids are raised in loving and caring homes or with loving and caring foster parents.

It does take a village to raise a kid and everyone should be involved instead of just ignoring it or labeling kids as bad.