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Hey all,

This is totally true believe it or not

I caught a model thief yesterday at the store.A 13 ish old kid was watching my game against a nid player, who had his 3000gaunts laying on a side table.He was picking them up, and playing with them.I got suspecious cuz he was not looking at the model when he was playing with it.So then I kept an eye on him until he put like 4 or 5 gaunts into his pocket.He was trying to leave after that, but I stopped him and ask him politely for the stuff back, and thats when my VERY friendly opponent came.

We didnt want a new gamer to get into so much trouble, so we let him go without any charges, and to my suprise,the nid player even gave him a gaunt and taught him a good lesson of how a gamer should earn thier models, not steal them.That kid cried in front of us, maybe too impressed by my opponent.

This is just a briefing, it was much more exciting than this.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

One of the saddest days I worked for GW was when a manager called me and one of our vets had stolen 2 demon princes off the wall and was caught by mall security. GW always presses charges and he got banned from the store. He was 22 years old, his mom called me crying and he was very upset. He was just desperate. It was sad mainly because the manager probably would have given him personally owned demon princes if he needed them that badly.

I usually tried to stop them before they left the store and do something similar to your opponent, sometimes you just can't.

Touching.

Caught one kid stealing from a gift shop I ran. 2 weeks later, caught him trying to steal more. There's a reason that the term "crocodile tears" exists. Called the cops the second time he did it, let them take care of him. Next day his parents called to chew me out. Thats when I asked that THEY no longer come to my store either.

Say out of 5 kids I busted, 2 of them didnt try it again. The others thought it was owed to them or that they wouldnt always get caught.

Trust them with one eye open.

Well, I haven't been doing sercurity.It was an inccident.

But yea, people steal, even though the law restricts it strongly.

Well, that's 4 theft related threads.

Teenagers will always do petty theft. It's always something small that they'd buy if they had the pocket money/allowance. I call it a minor irritation and nothing more.

I will own up to stealing a few packets of football stickers when I was ten. Eventually I got caught and received a huge rollicking from the shop keeper. I was so terrified, I never did it again.

Teenagers getting drunk and stabbing each other? Now that's a broken society.

Friend of mine used to steal models. He got caught a few years ago. Banned from the store and everything. His ban time expires in four days, and he plans to return ASAP. Chances are the manager will kick him out again, but it'll be interesting to watch.

He would go in with friends on busy days, then make sure there was no one watching before taking heavy blisters, such as the Avatar or a Tomb Spyder. The store was onto him, but they couldn't prove anything without catching him red-handed. Eventually he got caught when one of the staff returned from lunch break as he was leaving, and was forced to empty his pockets. Oddly enough, three officers were called to the scene. I never knew three police officers were required to restrain a subdued 15 year old boy in tears.

When you're young, you don't realise why stealing is bad morally. You either don't try to do it because you're scared, or you try it, get caught and become so scared you don't try it again. Then as you get older, you forgot the fear and just assume you don't steal because you're morally superior.

I don't blame kids for this kind of thing. They don't have 20-odd years of experience behind them, and they don't have access to to kind of money a 40k army costs. If I wasn't allowed to get a job, and was given ~£5 a week to entertain myself with I might very well resort to theft too.

I would let them off. Scaring them a little first doesn't hurt though.

Rube wrote:When you're young, you don't realise why stealing is bad morally. You either don't try to do it because you're scared, or you try it, get caught and become so scared you don't try it again. Then as you get older, you forgot the fear and just assume you don't steal because you're morally superior.

I have to call major BS on this. I know I was taught from a young age stealing is wrong. If you have reached your teens and don't know right from wrong, either from a moral standpoint or a legal one, the people who raised you are complete failures.

Mattlov wrote:

Rube wrote:When you're young, you don't realise why stealing is bad morally. You either don't try to do it because you're scared, or you try it, get caught and become so scared you don't try it again. Then as you get older, you forgot the fear and just assume you don't steal because you're morally superior.

I have to call major BS on this. I know I was taught from a young age stealing is wrong. If you have reached your teens and don't know right from wrong, either from a moral standpoint or a legal one, the people who raised you are complete failures.

Based on my experiences (see above), I'm fairly certain I knew it was wrong, but football stickers were a major craze at the time and I didn't have any. Morals didn't come into it really, it was wanting to have something so I could join in the swapping. I think GW stuff is similar. Some parents won't necessarily approve of it, so their kids have to watch from the sidelines not being able to join in. Eventually desire overcomes a sense of right and wrong and they'll just grab something so they can be a part of it too.

The Simpson's episode where Bart steals a computer game is spot on in this respect, especially as he watches the spoilt kid insist on two copies so he doesn't have to share with his sister.

I guess i'll share my experience .

I have stolen once in my life. It was in grade 2.
There was this small cheap plastic teddy bear from some board game in school that i really liked.

Its weird, during the process when i made my mind to take it into my hand , and into my pocket , its as if my mind was blank. I wasnt thinking at all , almost as if i was mesmerized by the bear... When i went home and took it out of my pocket was the first time when it hit me for what i have done. Till this day somewhere i think i kept the bear in a box.

Mattlov wrote:

Rube wrote:When you're young, you don't realise why stealing is bad morally. You either don't try to do it because you're scared, or you try it, get caught and become so scared you don't try it again. Then as you get older, you forgot the fear and just assume you don't steal because you're morally superior.

I have to call major BS on this. I know I was taught from a young age stealing is wrong. If you have reached your teens and don't know right from wrong, either from a moral standpoint or a legal one, the people who raised you are complete failures.

You can tell a kid that fire burns them, but they won't know what you mean until they've felt it themselves. The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

Rube wrote:The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

I disagree , why wouldnt they understand its bad?

Yes, I knew it was bad, but my need to swap football stickers at the time seemed greater. I think you're kind of there Rube, but as I commented above right and wrong can be lower down on a child's sense of values.

Tony the guardsman wrote:Hey all,

This is totally true believe it or not

I caught a model thief yesterday at the store.A 13 ish old kid was watching my game against a nid player, who had his 3000gaunts laying on a side table.He was picking them up, and playing with them.I got suspecious cuz he was not looking at the model when he was playing with it.So then I kept an eye on him until he put like 4 or 5 gaunts into his pocket.He was trying to leave after that, but I stopped him and ask him politely for the stuff back, and thats when my VERY friendly opponent came.

We didnt want a new gamer to get into so much trouble, so we let him go without any charges, and to my suprise,the nid player even gave him a gaunt and taught him a good lesson of how a gamer should earn thier models, not steal them.That kid cried in front of us, maybe too impressed by my opponent.

This is just a briefing, it was much more exciting than this.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

Touching story. You were wrong, but touching story.

You arent doing him any favors by sheildinghim from the consequences of his actions.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Rube wrote:

You can tell a kid that fire burns them, but they won't know what you mean until they've felt it themselves. The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

False anology. Not every kid needs to stick their hand in fire to know it burns. Not ever kid needs to be spoiled to not steal. One can be taught fire is hot without dealing with it, just as one can be taught that stealing is wrong with consequences without being spoiled nor be too scared.

The fact thats how you think tells me alot about the folks who raised you.....

LunaHound wrote:

Rube wrote:The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

I disagree , why wouldnt they understand its bad?

I also disagree. I've never stollen a thing in my life. Back when Pokemon cards were a big thing, I kind of wanted some but instead resorted to doing the odd job to recieve my first card ever; Diglett. I guess that led down the path to War Gaming eventually as it led to making friends with interests similar to that, a good thing for someone who spent a majority of their childhood without any friends (age 6-13ish for those stalkers ). Although I don't have the card (traded so much that first day ); I have experienced that earning something you really want is a good thing, better than receiving it illegitimately and having to feel the shame that you simply gave up too easily.

I also understand the "ooh shiney" mentality that causes some to commit theft though, humanity is lazy; the simplest solution to a problem is usually the first taken with little to no thought over the consequences that follow in the future. Some learn from these mistakes and become better people, others simply less intelligent, try the same method constantly expecting a different result each time; shocked to find none.

I'm going to side with Rube on this whole fire thing. Being told fire is hot and burns is one thing, but it's quite another to experience that fire burns and therefore know it.

I'd argue that the being told fire burns needs to be coupled with an experience of being in close proximity to a flame at one time or another (to feel that the heat can be unpleasant) in order to to learn the lesson.

I'm not suggesting you take your child's hand a wave it over a candle, but at some point they will come close enough to the heat for it to click inside their brain that actually, the parents were right about this one.

I'd agree that it doesn't quite work as stealing analogy though.

Mattlov wrote:

Rube wrote:When you're young, you don't realise why stealing is bad morally. You either don't try to do it because you're scared, or you try it, get caught and become so scared you don't try it again. Then as you get older, you forgot the fear and just assume you don't steal because you're morally superior.

I have to call major BS on this. I know I was taught from a young age stealing is wrong. If you have reached your teens and don't know right from wrong, either from a moral standpoint or a legal one, the people who raised you are complete failures.

Agreed that statement is so full of self serving BS its, well BS. Such a statement from me wouldn't have worked with Dad, and from my kids would not have worked with me.

That's good old Texas parenting for you. I don't think my parents were any less severe, I just cracked on that occassion.

On the plus side, I never gave into peer pressure on the smoking thing, which is the late teens equivalent of football stickers. I guess I'd already decided I was never going to be one of the cool kids by that stage

LunaHound wrote:

Rube wrote:The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

I disagree , why wouldnt they understand its bad?

We wouldn't steal, say, a £10 blister because we know the store clerk has to work another 2 hours of his crappy job to earn that £10 back. We have empathy for his situation because we've both probably worked in similar minimum-wage, soul-destroying jobs at some point in our lives and can relate to his situation.

A kid obviously hasn't worked in such a job. You can tell him why it's a morally bad thing, and he might understand on a logical level, but he lacks the experiences and memories of having suffered through something similar to attach to the store clerks predicament.


As for the debate-class dropouts who think my line of reasoning is some excuse for having stolen myself at some point - let me introduce you to Ad Hominem. Whether I have stolen something is irrelevant to whether what I am saying is true or not.

It's especially irrelevant because I haven't stolen before. I'm just under no illusion that I abstained from doing so because as a 12 year old I had developed a strong sense of morals and empathy.

Thanks for insulting my parents whom you have never met nor know anything about however! Perhaps if your parents had educated you properly, you wouldn't be embarrasing yourselves by using logical fallacies most 12 year olds do understand.

Rube wrote:

LunaHound wrote:

Rube wrote:The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

I disagree , why wouldnt they understand its bad?

We wouldn't steal, say, a £10 blister because we know the store clerk has to work another 2 hours of his crappy job to earn that £10 back. We have empathy for his situation because we've both probably worked in similar minimum-wage, soul-destroying jobs at some point in our lives and can relate to his situation.

A kid obviously hasn't worked in such a job. You can tell him why it's a morally bad thing, and he might understand on a logical level, but he lacks the experiences and memories of having suffered through something similar to attach to the store clerks predicament.


As for the debate-class dropouts who think my line of reasoning is some excuse for having stolen myself at some point - let me introduce you to Ad Hominem. Whether I have stolen something is irrelevant to whether what I am saying is true or not.

It's especially irrelevant because I haven't stolen before. I'm just under no illusion that I abstained from doing so because as a 12 year old I had developed a strong sense of morals and empathy.

Thanks for insulting my parents whom you have never met nor know anything about however! Perhaps if your parents had educated you properly, you wouldn't be embarrasing yourselves by using logical fallacies most 12 year olds do understand.

Well back in the day you'd get booted out of a mom and pop store by the owner who would be be beating the hell out of you as he did it. It was an excellent motivational tool.

AS to your personal statement, not sure who accused you have stealing in the past Rube. You might ratchet it down a notch.

Rube wrote:

LunaHound wrote:

Rube wrote:The only kids who don't steal are those who are spoilt to the point that they've never needed to, or those who are made too scared of any physical repercussions to try.

Morally they just won't understand why it's bad. Words mean nothing without experience to back them up.

I disagree , why wouldnt they understand its bad?

We wouldn't steal, say, a £10 blister because we know the store clerk has to work another 2 hours of his crappy job to earn that £10 back. We have empathy for his situation because we've both probably worked in similar minimum-wage, soul-destroying jobs at some point in our lives and can relate to his situation.

A kid obviously hasn't worked in such a job. You can tell him why it's a morally bad thing, and he might understand on a logical level, but he lacks the experiences and memories of having suffered through something similar to attach to the store clerks predicament.


As for the debate-class dropouts who think my line of reasoning is some excuse for having stolen myself at some point - let me introduce you to Ad Hominem. Whether I have stolen something is irrelevant to whether what I am saying is true or not.

It's especially irrelevant because I haven't stolen before. I'm just under no illusion that I abstained from doing so because as a 12 year old I had developed a strong sense of morals and empathy.

Thanks for insulting my parents whom you have never met nor know anything about however! Perhaps if your parents had educated you properly, you wouldn't be embarrasing yourselves by using logical fallacies most 12 year olds do understand.

I cant speak for others ( since everyone is different )
but for myself i grew up with the basic idea of. I wouldnt like that done to me ( stealing included ) so i wont do it to them.

Assumptions always lead to annoying mistakes. That's the lesson here

Im thinking there were some coddled kids here? When I was a kid (from Newark NJ, inner city drugs, gangs, the whole 9, so NOT Texas), if I had stolen anything, my father would have spanked it outta me. If my kid (I have 6 btw) stole, then they would get a spanking, quickest way to teach them that stealing comes with consequences, non of this "get in touch with your feelings" BS. It's called morals. Morals teach you that stealing is wrong, lack of morals makes excuses for doing it. Simple as.

This all boils down to parenting. If they take the time to teach you morals etc, then you will grow one way. If they are lazy they'll expect the system to teach their child right and wrong and will end up with aberrant little juvies. Would explain why Grand Brittania is such a sink hole (tit-for-tat on the Texas remark).

The examples in this thread ultimately asks one thing.

Pushing all the consequences aside , i would like to know:

If you can steal something and no one will never know and you'll never get caught.

Would you do it?

Texas literallly does have a few sink holes..

I think he was complementing Texas actually...

@ Flashman

My deepest apologies then Flashman.

I just get very sensitive to Euros stereotyping/equating the US as tobacco spitting texans and hicks. Grant it we have those, but many of us are just hard working rubes who want better for our families and work really hard at it and dont really appreciate being lumped in with "those".

So again, apologies, I'll leave my original post alone for continuities sake if no other.

@ Spacemanvic - Yes, it was intended as a complement.

Once you've been here a while, you'll see that very few intended insults come from my direction.

I would also say with regards to my crime, it was only football stickers and it was 24 years ago. Please let me move on with my life

Flashman wrote:@ Spacemanvic - Yes, it was intended as a complement.

Once you've been here a while, you'll see that very few intended insults come from my direction.

I would also say with regards to my crime, it was only football stickers and it was 24 years ago. Please let me move on with my life

@ Flashman
Agreed. My wife was busted for stealing makeup when she was 11 and was taught VERY quickly how wrong it was (story came out when we were teaching our daughters about the need to pay for things and saving for it). Verified story with MiL.

LunaHound wrote:The examples in this thread ultimately asks one thing.

Pushing all the consequences aside , i would like to know:

If you can steal something and no one will never know and you'll never get caught.

Would you do it?

Of course someone would know. You yourself would know.

No I wouldnt. I'm not a theif.