Sunday Scribblings: The Thief
Standing firm in time, the thief has walked with us from the beginning. The thief has stolen our bread, stolen our hearts, stolen our children…stolen anything that belonged to another. The thief even ranks on the top ten list of God’s Commandments of what not to do.
Close your eyes and picture, what do you see? Is our thief wearing a black mask, cruel looking and crude…or perhaps another shade of skin then yourself?
The thief, taking. The thief, fear maker. This thief, a friend, stranger, foe?
I was a thief once, stealing a piece of candy from the bulk bin as a kid – innocence worn from the barrettes of my pigtails down across my entire face. I felt so bad I brought in a nickel and secretly put it on the counter, but not feeling guilty enough to tell the clerk what I did earlier. I figured a nickel was sufficient payment, and they collected the money, even if they didn’t know what it was for.
To this day, I still wish I had told the truth, though my monetary exchange did alleviate the guilt enough to get through childhood.
I met a guy once who dropped a load of money on the ground and was about to drive off. I’ll admit my mind quickly went to fantasies of taking the cash when he was gone, as I picked up the money and handed it to him.
When I think of thief though, I see little me – mini me – taking that piece of candy and eating it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not loosing sleep over this. I was kind of a cute thief too. But, I prefer to limit my thievery to a childhood experiment long since finished.
Close your eyes and picture, what do you see? Is our thief wearing a black mask, cruel looking and crude…or perhaps another shade of skin then yourself?
The thief, taking. The thief, fear maker. This thief, a friend, stranger, foe?
I was a thief once, stealing a piece of candy from the bulk bin as a kid – innocence worn from the barrettes of my pigtails down across my entire face. I felt so bad I brought in a nickel and secretly put it on the counter, but not feeling guilty enough to tell the clerk what I did earlier. I figured a nickel was sufficient payment, and they collected the money, even if they didn’t know what it was for.
To this day, I still wish I had told the truth, though my monetary exchange did alleviate the guilt enough to get through childhood.
I met a guy once who dropped a load of money on the ground and was about to drive off. I’ll admit my mind quickly went to fantasies of taking the cash when he was gone, as I picked up the money and handed it to him.
When I think of thief though, I see little me – mini me – taking that piece of candy and eating it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not loosing sleep over this. I was kind of a cute thief too. But, I prefer to limit my thievery to a childhood experiment long since finished.
posted by GoGo | 3:18 PM
6 Comments:
Great post, so evocative of childhood innocence! I love how you left the nickle to pay for the candy. I was just in London and thought about you and how much you'll like it there. How are the plans progressing?
Loved the image of the innocence in pigtails. Your "little self" really comes through in this post.
Your post makes me wonder if there was ever a child who never stole anything. We all have such strong little egos as children and must learn that lesson of self control, that not everything is going to be mine for the taking. Mine was a marble from a friend's house. I took it and kept it with me for a few weeks and then slipped it back into their house at another play date. Thanks for sharing this story!
How sweet that this still tortures you a little -- you obviously don't have the soul of a thief! (a good thing not to have) I have a clear memory of being about 6 at some K-Mart type store with my parents and wanting a plastic beaded bracelet very badly -- my mom said I could have it so I slipped it on my wrist and we shopped for a while and we all forgot about it when it was time to go. Back at home when my dad realized what had happened he told me he was going to take me back to the store to confess and I was so horrified and terrified! I cried and cried. I think I thought I might go to jail! He didn't actually make me, but I still think it was a little harsh!
oops. that was me!
I thought that I was honest...at least you went back with the nickel! Thanks for reminding me of a couple of trips to the general store.....with my evil friends, of course.
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