Editorial Opinion
Some time ago, I drafted an editorial with my thoughts on scalpers and Toy Pirates. While I still feel they are among the dregs of humanity, they pale in comparison to the scumbags who like to steal. We wonder why prices continually go up... theft is as major a reason as anything else.
Yesterday, Mrs. ToyBox and I had a date day together. While on our excursion, we stopped into a store and much to my surprise, they had some of the newer G.I. Joe Classified series figures. I was absolutely thrilled to see the Snow Serpent hanging right behind Shipwreck. Without a second thought I reached down, grabbed the box... and to my dismay discovered that the back of the package had been ripped open and the figure and contents removed. The scumbag that did this made sure to put the package with the back against the wall to hide their thievery.
Where I live, finding figures like that in the "wild" is kind of difficult, so you can imagine my excitement, thinking I'd found a gem. The worst part though, was when I took the empty package to the front counter and showed it to the employee working. The look of disgust and sadness that crossed his face was actually heartbreaking. He explained that was the FIFTH TIME this week that something like this was discovered in the store. I was taken aback, but sadly, given what a $#!thole society has become, I wasn't as surprised as I thought I'd be.
I hate lawbreakers. Anybody who thinks they can cheat the system for their own personal gain is nothing better than dog crap simmering on a hot sidewalk. While I am a proponent of the 8th Amendment, sometimes I think that lopping off some scumbag's hands for stealing isn't necessarily that cruel a punishment. In the case of the piece of trash that swiped a stupid action figure... I get that in your pea-brained mind you don't think you're hurting anyone. But there is no such thing as a victimless crime. Your greed causes prices to go up, can cost people jobs, and can restrict our access to things as stores choose not to stock specialty items any longer. I'm sure that the jerkoff that perpetrated this crime won't ever see this editorial... and even if they did, are likely illiterate anyhow, but I'll say this. I hope, one day, you get caught trying to steal from the wrong business and they make you regret in a very painfully unpleasant way, your self-centered choices.
I hadn't intended to write this editorial, but the more I recalled the expression on that young man working the counter, the more frustrated I became. He had the look of someone that was both angry at his workplace being robbed and worried about how it would impact him and his co-workers. As he told me, finding people to work is hard enough, having enough people on shift to properly keep an eye on the store is darn near impossible. I hope that he and his co-workers don't catch too much flack over this, but even more, I hope they nab the jerk if he/she comes back and tries it again.