Knowledge is Power
At 19, I worked at a clothing store. One day, I saw that my manager and co-worker just ripping up clothes and breaking bottles of perfume and jewelry. I asked why they were doing it, and the manager said it was because they didn’t want people digging the items out of the trash later on and getting them for free. I asked if I could take a few of the perfume bottles, and he gave me permission to take them all.
I did so and gave some to my family and friends, but sold most of the bottles. I told the manager how much I had made, and he told me he would give me more if I gave him half the cash. I said sure. In the back of my head, I was suspicious, but me being young and green, I felt like I could trust the general manager. So for about a month, I sold the bottles for him.
Then, one day I came into work and was pulled into the office for a meeting with theft prevention and the district manager. They accused me of stealing from the company. They had images of the online ads I posted for the items I had taken home, and told me that if I didn’t write that I stolen over $15,000 worth of cash and goods, they were going to call law enforcement and throw me in the slammer.
I was terrified. I’d never been in trouble, and I tried explaining to them that the manager had given me permission, but they didn’t listen. I also told them I had never stolen cash after they informed me that they also had an entire deposit missing. I wrote down what they told me to because I was so scared, I basically gave a complete confession.
Kids, don’t EVER do this. I was naïve, and wish I would’ve just let them call. Instead, I did as they said and was escorted out of the building and told that law enforcement would contact me. I tried calling my manager to ask him what was going on, but he never answered, and the next day the phone was turned off or he’d blocked me.
I’m also pretty sure he took off with the deposit because he never went back to work after he heard what happened to me. Because I was a first time offender, I was charged with felony theft and given four years of probation with the option to defer when I finished. I spent a lot of years working bad jobs with low pay because my background check wouldn’t pass anywhere decent.
I became depressed and began to drink heavily. I was so deeply ashamed that it was hard for me to even look at my parents because I knew how badly I had let them down. It’s taken a long time, but I’m a harder person because of all of it. I’ve learned a lot about my rights and about people in general.