I am fairly laid back, but there are some things that just stick in my craw. Stealing being definitely near the top of the list. (I don’t know why I used “stick in my craw.” Sometimes I feel like I should have been born in the South!) Let me be clear about this…STEALING IS NEVER JUSTIFIED!
“What about the people who are poor and have no other means to survive?” There are many other alternatives to stealing. For instance, the person can easily ask to perform some type of labor in exchange for money. There are also many neighbors who will open up their homes for anyone who is starving. (I still believe in the general goodness of people!) I hate when I see a documentary about some famous person who discusses how life was hard and they had to steal to survive. (“I had to do what I had to do is the dumbest statement in the history of language!” Doing what you had to do means working hard, not taking shortcuts! “My kids had to eat, so I did what I had to!” classic dumbass statement. Where is the logic? Let me get this straight. You risked your freedom to provide for your children. How the hell are you going to provide for them when you are in jail?) No one ever has to steal; there is always a solution. Stealing is the easy way out. There are too many successful people in this world who come from unbelievably adverse situations, but they use hard work and determination to persevere.
“What’s the big deal? Stealing never hurts anyone!” Dead wrong! Stealing hurts everyone. All companies, regardless of size, have to raise the prices for goods due to theft. We all are forced to pay the price as consumers. The high school children who walk into a seven eleven and steal, effects everyone. We all have to suffer because someone doesn’t have any morals. Businesses are forced to hire less employees due to theft. It’s a major problem. (People love to say, “I steal from Walmart because the owners are rich.” I say, good luck allowing those people in your house, unattended!)
Let me say this, although there is no excuse for stealing, I am specifically speaking about adults. I can’t blame a child for stealing. It is the responsibility of parents to teach children right from wrong. The worst situation is when parents teach children to steal. What great role models those people are! (They should be drawn and quartered. Yes, I literally mean, attaching the person’s limbs to four horses and watching their body be ripped to pieces.)
Working at a job and hooking-up your friends and family with discounts can be ok, but always consider the business’ bottom line. Too many hook-ups can actually cause your friend to lose his or her job. The next time you get a hook-up, remember to return to the business and pay full price. Friendship works both ways. Be a good friend and help your buddy make some sales. After all, there will be no hook-up if your friend is fired.
I would even be bold enough to suggest that our economy is tanking due to theft. People want to live outside of their means, which results in a loss of ethics. “These people are insane, how can they expect me to pay $200 for a pair of sneakers?” They don’t expect you to pay for the sneakers. Those sneakers are for people who can afford to purchase them. Saving up three or four checks to buy an item that is not meant for your enjoyment is insane. Resorting to stealing in order to impress others is plain ridiculous behavior. Work hard, and improve your economic situation. The reason people remain poor, is the fact that they are out of touch with reality. You can’t live like the celebrities; they have money. (“Did you see the shoes she wore on the red carpet? I have to get those!” Smartest statement ever!) Investing in new pairs of Jordans will only make MJ richer. If you want to become wealthy, invest in your education. It takes sacrifice to become successful. We live in an age where anyone can become accomplished. I understand how expensive Universities can be, but there are trade schools and community colleges. Students who perform in the classroom can earn scholarships. Stop with the excuses and get motivated!
Taking extravagant trips to exotic locals so you can impress others is the reason why people never have a dollar in their pockets. The one thing that has always baffled me is when I hear about someone purchasing a purse for $600, but they don’t have $10 to buy lunch. Stealing food and stuffing products into your expensive oversized purse because you don’t have the money to spend is comical. Live within your means and stop trying to keep up with people who can’t even afford their lifestyles.
“It’s easy for you to be against stealing, your family owns a business.” Yeah, that’s part of the reason I am against stealing, but I’m speaking the truth. People who steal are society’s black eye. It’s annoying to understand the concept of earning a living, and have to watch someone steal. What the thief is doing is taking a shortcut and saying, “fuck you, to the hard worker!” Watching a grown person steal an inexpensive item is always a sad event. How have you allowed yourself to be in the position where you are an adult and you can’t feed yourself. To me, people who steal are at the lowest rung of society. I always do my best to be as verbally abusive as possible, when encountering such vagrants. My goal in these types of situations is to make the offender feel like the piece of shit they truly are.
“Are you serious? You’re going to ban me from the store because I stole a fifty cent juice? That’s petty!” Yes, I am completely serious. How about the fact that you are a grown man and you’re stealing a fifty cent juice? Is that not petty? Thankfully, I have the ability to use logic, so I choose verbal abuse over violence. (I have seriously considered acquiring a license to carry a firearm, but I know how angry I get when I see someone steal; I wouldn’t hesitate to kill. There is no way I am spending a second in jail because I lost my temper and killed someone for theft. YES! I would kill over someone stealing a twenty-five cent bag of chips. I don’t want to live in a society that has thieves!)
If you are reading this and you feel like a piece of shit because you steal, the truth hurts! If you are a thief and you are laughing at this post, I feel sorry for you. Your life sucks ass! I wish you could truly understand how much of a low life you are. The best aspect of my personality is the fact that I do not feel any type of shame. If I see you stealing, I will walk up to you and make sure that everyone around knows exactly how shitty a person you are. Why should I feel embarrassed, I’m not the one stealing. (Trust me. I have confronted women in their eighties, and family friends.)
My favorite low life was a “thug” from some Boston hot spot. He walked in and stuffed a snack into his pocket. I walked up and said, “Give me what’s in your pocket, leave the store, and never come back.” He was way too cool to follow simple instructions. He went on about how I don’t know who he is and where he is from. I did my best to reason with the idiot, but he was too much of a thug to just allow common sense to guide him. “Ok, now that you want to be an idiot, you can’t leave the store. We’re going to stay here until the cops come.” I stood by the door and the police were called.
For thirty minutes, he ran his mouth, “You better get out of my way…I’m about to make a phone call…etc.” At one point, he actually pulled out a phone and called a friend to, “Come to Dudley.” I laughed, the “genius” didn’t even say where on Dudley. The reality of the situation must have set in because the guy removed a dollar from his pocket and said, “I got money; you can have a dollar, if you want it that bad.” No, I no longer wanted the dollar. Finally, the cops arrived and the situation worsened for the thug. One of the officers happened to be a close family friend, and the guy was roughed up a little bit. (No, it wasn’t police brutality, the idiot actually attempted to put up a fight.)
It turned out, he didn’t have a working cell phone. The officer checked and there was no service. The snack was found on his person and he was charged with several counts. All that over a snack, when the idiot had money in his pocket the entire time. Stealing is not the result of a necessity, it’s pure greed. I don’t care what your situation is, work harder and improve your circumstances. If your grandmother steals…FUCK HER! If your father steals…FUCK HIM! If your mom steals…FUCK HER. If you steal…FUCK YOU!!!
If you weren’t positive about my stance on the topic…I HATE PEOPLE WHO STEAL. If you are ever in my presence and you feel the need to tell a tale in which you stole, don’t do it—I will lose all respect for you! Learning how to stop stealing is a fundamental criterion to becoming an adult…GROW UP!!!
“What about the people who steal someone else’s significant other?” That’s a question asked by a dumbass. No one can steal a boyfriend or girlfriend. Anyone who leaves you, was never yours in the first place!
Feel free to comment, if you support stealing, but I caution you. I HATE PEOPLE WHO STEAL. I will not hold back in my response to your comment. I am always careful to do my best to be respectful to anyone who comments because I truly appreciate the support; I believe the comments add a great deal to each post. That being said, this is a topic that I feel strongly about and will not hold my tongue; I can’t stand thieves and I won’t tolerate their behavior. MY RESPONSE WILL BE COMPLETELY UN-FILTERED!!!
This entry was posted in challenging and tagged adulthood, business, hard work, morals, stealing, theft, thieves. Bookmark the permalink.
Glad, I read this. I was planning to rob a bank! Not to lose youur respect I won’t do it. When I was younger I was a thief. I stoled, and made a sport out of it. Looking for stores with two clerks and no customers. I’ll walk in there steal, get caught, and walk away with something. I was going places (Nausha st, South Bay, etc…) 13yrs ago I even caught a felony charge on some dumb shit (no I’m not a felony, I paid every penny back. It wasnt petty theft) Case closed
But, now let me explain. Stealing gaves me a rush, and wad addictive. I had a high when I did it. I now get the thrills going 180mph on a motorcycle. I’m going write a blog on speeders….lol
Your story sounds like a boy who became a man. Everyone needs excitement in his or her life, but the key is to find something legal. 180 on a bike will get it done, but I’ll probably never know. Even if you were a thief, I don’t disown cousins.
We all grow up most dont, life in the hood were ur parents work to pay the bills and still struggle. but u grow up make a means of living like u said work hard
Pingback: This Actually Happened – March 17th, 2012 | Wacky Pete's Wicked & Wonderful Words of Wis-dumb
I’m not sure about you, but it’s getting very hot where I live. The summer has nearly arrived here in Dubai, which almost means no more gardening, picnics, or any outdoor activities. This is why we are really enjoying our last few days outside, spending time in our garden with the smell of Frangipani tree, Jasmine flowers and a flavorful mint tea (with fresh mint from my garden).
For this week’s Fiesta Friday # 116 I’m bringing a sweet and delicious Pine Nut Tarte made with almond cream and pine nuts on the top. Simple, delicious and looks like Amandine Tarte. I love serving this tart with my flavorful North African mint tea! I hope you will like it!
Thank you to our host Angie, and to our wonderful co-host’s this week Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Cynthia @ eatmunchlove!
Slowly add the milk and mix until it holds a perfect ball (maybe more or less milk depending on the quality of the flour and the size of the egg).
Peel off the parchment paper from one side of your plastic wrap, flip the dough over the tart plate and slowly remove the other parchment paper.
I suggest you serve this tart with a sweet North African mint tea and some roasted pine nuts on the side! 🙂
PS: Almond cream is not a frangipane cream. A frangipane cream is a mixture of almond cream and crème patissière!
The tart is spectacular and your garden is just beautiful Linda. I love pine nuts and almonds and the combination in this dessert sound irresistible.
Such a wonderful tart.! Love the combination of pine nuts and almonds. I love the elongated pine nuts, you have here. I find they have a superior flavor. 🙂
Thank you so much Ronit. These pine nuts are tasty and also very nice in texture. I love to use them in Mhalbi/Muhalbia, so good! 🙂
I’ve never seen pine nuts like that Linda. Regardless, the tarte looks yummy especially with that almond cream. Lovely flowers and mint or lemon balm? It is beautiful here in Michigan – only in the 60’s but everything is coming alive. Thanks for sharing with us – you not only brought a nice dessert but a little bit of what your garden looks like.
Thank you so much Judi for your kind words. We are lucky to have a lot of varieties of nuts here in UAE and at reasonable prices too. The first pic, is mint (smell so good) in my garden and in my cuisine too. Thanks for co-hosting this week FF and have a nice week! 🙂
As someone who spent the first twelve years of her life in the middle east you have my deep sympathies – summers can be quite brutal! this tart though is a thing of beauty and i’ve pinned it to make in the future!
I purchased a new tart pan at least 6 months ago and have yet to use it…thank you for providing the perfect recipe for it’s first use! The tart looks wonderful, Linda. The photos of your garden/flowers are stunning!
Thank you Nancy for your nice comment. I’m glad you liked it. I hope you’ll give it a try, especially with your new tart pan 😉
….and what a treat you’ve brought us today Linda. Your desserts are just irresistible! Loving the ingredients in this tart and as a lover of all things “in the garden”, I just love the pop of color, do post some more pictures of your beautiful garden. I’ve dedicated a section on my blog to gardening too and can hardly keep up now with everything coming into life again. You have my sympathy, I hope you can survive those brutal summers, I thought ours was bad. 🙂
Thank you so so much for your sweet comment Loretta. I will try to post more pictures from my garden. I have a lot of trees and shrubs. We use sand here as a soil. Flowers are very fragile to grow under this climate. Vines are beautiful here, just amazing. Have a beautiful day! 🙂
Wow, Linda! I am drooling over your tart!! And your garden is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing both of these beauties with us! 😀
Looks lively Linda – hopefully in Dubai you can pick up pine nuts relatively cheaply – they are so expensive here! And I know what you mean about the Dubai heat – our last visit was early June and the temperature was over 45 degrees!
Thanks a lot Laura. You’re right the nuts are not expensive here and they are on sale everywhere. The problem here is the heat plus humidity 😦 you can cook an egg on the top of your car 😀
Great tart! Also an expensive one with so many pine nuts as well as almond meal. But definitely worth it!
Merci beaucoup Stefan. I’m lucky to have nuts at reasonable price here, they are on sale everywhere and they are used so much in Middle Eastern Cuisine. I hope you’ll give it a try! 🙂
That tart is a piece of art Linda!! So stunning and it must taste just fantastic! Your garden looks so sunny and beautiful! Love it xx
Gorgeous tart Linda – I can just imagine the flavour! Interested to learn that almond cream is different from frangipane- might need to go back and rename a post of mine 😳 Loved seeing a few photos of your garden too, such beautiful flowers. M.xx
Merci beaucoup Margot. I discovered by hazard the difference between almond cream and frangipane. Ah, la cuisine française 😀 Love flowers too, gardening is so relaxing. Have a nice day! 🙂 xx
Absolutely beautiful and decadent tart, Linda! I love the combination of almond filling and pine nuts. I shall make this beauty someday. 🙂
Love the tart recipe and the garden pics as well! My daughter would absolutely love that tart. She has a habit of eating my pine nuts right off the package as soon as I buy them, and before I can say enough, she’s already polished them off 😄 What are the purple flowers? They’re stunning!
Thank you SO much Angie. I’m glad you liked it and you should definitely try this tart for your daughter 😀
Hard to chose between this cake and the flowers of your garden… ideally I wish I could have a slice or two of this pine nut cake while I am sitting in your garden!