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I stole a Gameboy Color 17 years ago, and I still feel guilty about it

J

John Kowalski

Banned
Stumpokapow said:
For the people who actually feel guilty about shoplifting stuff from the stores -- you can make amends today; guess the approximate cash value of the items you stole, put it in an envelope, send it to your local store anonymously with a letter explaining that you stole from the store as a teenager and you wish to make amends.

Harder for the OP, who almost certainly stole the game boy from another shopper.
Click to expand...

Don't forget to take inflation into account.
 
SenkiDala

SenkiDala

Member
molnizzle said:
This thread reminded me that I used to swipe MK2 collectible cards from Myer when I was like 9. I felt bad about it even then, my parents wouldn't buy the cheat code magazines for me and there was no other way to learn the fatalities back then.
Click to expand...

Ahah, I remember when I was like 9/10yo, I was going to a magazine store quite often, because I couldn't buy magazines so I was just watching them, but not for so long, for like 5/6 minutes. And very often the cashier was yelling at me like if I was shit and checking everytime under my tshirt, in my school bag, etc, if I didn't steal anything...
So after 6 months of that I thought "oh fuck" and started stealing magazine at his shop, well I did it 3 or 4 times.
 
B

bill0527

Member
iShouldGoPro said:
I was shopping at Marshall's with my mom at the time, and I ventured off to the toy section of the store. This particular toy section was minuscule in size. It consisted of a few rows of shelves in the back corner of the store that spanned across around 4 meters each. I was 9 at the time, and these toys did not interest me at all, but anything was better than shopping for clothes..

That's when I saw it: a purple Gameboy Color. It was just lying on the shelf in front of the yo-yo's and fake nose/mustache. It wasn't in any packaging, it was just sitting on the shelf with a cartridge loaded in the back; the game was Super Mario Land.

I looked around and no body was in the vicinity; there were no kids or adults anywhere in sight. I peeked down a few aisles wondering if anyone was looking for a lost Gameboy, but no body was in sight.

I took the Gameboy.

I took it, put it in my pocket, and ran to my mom like I was running to home base. I was safe. I was ready to shop for clothes.
And I had a new Gameboy Color.

I'm a terrible person. There's a special place in hell for a Gameboy thief.
Click to expand...

Donate a 3DS to an orphange or a children's home, or even a children's hospital. Its the right thing to do and you'll sleep better at night.
 
D

dreamlogic

Neo Member
Around 18 years ago I was fired from a local game shop because someone stole a Gameboy color while I was working. It was my first day managing the shop by myself. It was slow so I decided to sample some games. Out of the blue the store got very busy and I placed the Gameboy on the counter. After tutning my back for a moment to help some customers I realized it had been stolen. I was devistated. In the end it worked out okay since I found a better paying job, but still that was an awful experience. Whatever kid stole that probably has no idea the pain he caused.
 
Jaguar Victory

Jaguar Victory

Member
Skel1ingt0n said:
I had my GameBoy Pocket inside the center console in my mom's Camaro when I was eight years old or so. She left the windows up but the T-Tops off in a Southern California K-Mart parking lot (in Oceanside) while we went to shop. We came back to the car, and I go to grab my GB ... and it was gone.

It sounds ridiculous, but I cried pretty much all day. I was upset for weeks. It was mid-summer if I remember correctly, and I didn't get a replacement until that following Christmas.

It sucks. It's awful and brought me a lot of emotional pain. But it was NOT the end of the world. I survived. And I do a much better job of keeping an eye on my much more expensive stuff, now.

You were a kid. You now feel remorse... and evil person would not. Don't do it again. Maybe donate the GB and game to charity?
Click to expand...

Got damn son. Your mom had T-top money but didn't get you a new one? I'd have got my son a new one.
 
D

Deadpool_X

Banned
When I was like 9, I stole a Nintendo Power Mario Bros 3 strategy guide from my cousin. He lived across the country from me, was older, and never I never saw him. I feel bad about it today. I have no idea why I thought I had the right to do that, but I did.

Karma is a bitch, though, and since then, I've had my entire NES collection stolen(including some high priced titles like a CIB Mega Man 6), Silent Hill black label, and several pc games.
 
Jaguar Victory

Jaguar Victory

Member
Stumpokapow said:
For the people who actually feel guilty about shoplifting stuff from the stores -- you can make amends today; guess the approximate cash value of the items you stole, put it in an envelope, send it to your local store anonymously with a letter explaining that you stole from the store as a teenager and you wish to make amends.

Harder for the OP, who almost certainly stole the game boy from another shopper.
Click to expand...

Employee would pocket this and start a new chain of guilt.
 
NYR

NYR

Member
Buy a couple of 3DS's and donate them to a children's hospital. You are forgiven, my child.
 
T

themagicalkitsune

Member
As someone who got his gameboy stolen at a camp, I would've probably punched you in the face today if you told me you did it.

But otherwise, no hard feelings.
 
openrob

openrob

Member
marge-be-not-proud-2.png


d4a1040c27a904aae93e5edf28117350.gif
 
P

PrinnyBomb

Member
I think there's a big difference between stealing from a store and finding a Gameboy someone lost/forgot.

I mean it's not the 'good' thing to do, instead of turning it in to lost and found but it's nowhere near a felony. Would you not keep a $5 if you found it on the street?
 
T

Taliban Stan

Member
It's but good to steal and I'm glad you regret it. Having said that, there are places and cultures where you telling that as a childhood story would get you pats on the back for pulling it off.

You were a kid. You got into done kid mischief. Everyone does something mischievous during their childhood. Yours was pretty hardcore for a kid and you got away with it.

Donate a hundred to the store or something if you're really feel bad. Tell a kid not to steal. There will be some time in your life where you'll be in a perfect position to "pay this back" in a really good way.

But just get over it. It's not like you were beating kids up in the street or bullying people.
 
G

GamerJM

Banned
A guy I knew in elementary school got his GBC in a similar way. He found it laying around at a camping lodge or something. I think the only game he had for it was Gex: Enter the Gecko. At the time I didn't really think much of it for some reason, though I think maybe he tried to return it to its owner and couldn't find him but I can't really remember.
 
T

ThatRandomCliff

Member
Only thing I ever stole was a lolly pop from a Giant Food grocery store when I was 4...However, I didn't leave any evidence...I ate the lolly pop, plastic and all, in the store. Would of been 1997 or something like that. Someone stole my Pokemon Gold when I was a kid...they didn't steal that handheld though...Always thought that was weird.
 
F

FallingSputnik

Member
0racle said:
Remember tamagochis?

Yeah, I remember not being allowed to get one.

So when I was out with my parents at a garden centre they for some reason, had them on a shelf there.

When they where not looking I burried that shit inside a potted plant they were buying.

Sure, stealing is bad and of course it was wrong but I can't help to think how smart of a plan I came up with as a kid. Desperate times desperate measures.
Click to expand...

You fucking rotten genius.
 
S

Siege.exe

Member
Lost my GBA SP on the bus one day before spring break. The next week on the bus my "friend" suspiciously mentions his new gameboy, then pulls out MY GBA with MY copy of Fire Red with my fucking save data deleted, and even little babby me is like "..... are you fucking kidding man?"
 
T

TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared

Member
Siege.exe said:
Lost my GBA SP on the bus one day before spring break. The next week on the bus my "friend" suspiciously mentions his new gameboy, then pulls out MY GBA with MY copy of Fire Red with my fucking save data deleted, and even little babby me is like "..... are you fucking kidding man?"
Click to expand...

I hope you told him off for it.
 
CharminUltra

CharminUltra

Member
I stole a GBC + Pokemon Yellow (which was inserted in the system) from a bully once. It was a beautifully executed plan, too (I'd have gotten caught for sure had I not taken certain precautions.)

I don't regret it cuz fuck that guy. He cried, too.
 
W

WordAssassin

Member
Stumpokapow said:
For the people who actually feel guilty about shoplifting stuff from the stores -- you can make amends today; guess the approximate cash value of the items you stole, put it in an envelope, send it to your local store anonymously with a letter explaining that you stole from the store as a teenager and you wish to make amends.

Harder for the OP, who almost certainly stole the game boy from another shopper.
Click to expand...

I'm.. pretty sure it doesn't work that way.

Stores have to balance the registers at the end of each day. It's never good for the register to be under, but it's also not good for the register to be over. If you try to pay for something that was written off as theft/damaged, then you're giving the store a surplus of money for an item they've already accounted for. Stores usually do inventory every 6 months or so, at least the ones I've worked at have (except for IKEA, their stock apparently moves too fast to have inventory done), and after a store does inventory anything from before it's submitted is basically set. So if you stole something last year and tried to send money for it this year, they've already accounted for the loss of the item you stole. There's no "place" for that money you're sending to go. It's not like stores have a special safe where they put money for stolen items to recoup the costs or send back to corporate, at least not any of the stores I've worked at (if anyone knows different though please do tell).

Edit: I suppose the only way it would work, if you're somehow able to get the money to them before they do any kind of inventory, would be if the item was still available for purchase, they could go get one off the shelf, scan it, pay for it with the money you sent, and then put it back on the shelf. Then the inventory would be square and you wouldn't have a money surplus at the end of the night. But I'd say the chances of something like that actually working in real life, while not impossible! are pretty improbable.
 
mrmickfran

mrmickfran

Member
I still remember when I got my Game Boy Advance stolen as a kid.

To this day, I still don't let anybody touch my shit because of it.
 
S

Siege.exe

Member
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared said:
I hope you told him off for it.
Click to expand...

If he had just been some kid on the bus I would've completely flown off the fucking handle, and even then I still surprised it didn't come to blows. I'm sure I did tell him off, but it was too long ago for me to remember anything other than the theft and the audacity to try to pass off my GBA as his. I remember the team I had though and I'm starting to get heated over it because I worked hard on that shit

Rage Edit: Oh yeah, the day I thought I lost it, he pretended to help me look for it until he got off the bus :mad:
 
T

Taco_Human

Member
That just means some other dumb kid left it and forgot it.

I had mine actually stolen from me. The kid died back in middle school. He stole from me in first grade.
 
E

EVA UNIT 01

Member
My friend and I stole about 6 of them In the 6th grade.
What's your point OP?
Pokemons US debut was a massacre,stolen gameboys,card hustles.
You had to protect ya neck.
 
M

matrixman92

Member
my family took a trip to disneyland a long time ago. We walked through one of the hotels and I had to take a dump. Went into the stall and there was some black case on top of the toilet paper roll metal case thing. Curiosity eventually got the better of me, I opened it. It was a DS. This was when they were brand new. I pocketed it so fast and didnt even finish going to the bathroom. I booked it out of there. I ruined some other kids vacation. Still feel bad
 
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