"This American Life"

Story #1: This story was about a woman that worked as a ticket seller for drinks at the bar of a hotel. What began as stealing a couple dollars every day, turned in to stealing hundreds of dollars a day. Ultimately, she stole over 10,000 dollars. There were two things that specifically struck me about this character. First of all, she never really seemed remorseful. She believed that she was owed this money indirectly through her services to the hotel, and that since she was using the money for good reason, that it was alright. Secondly, I couldn't believe that she thought she was an accomplice to God in doing this. That might have been one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Although her story was extremely selfish and ridiculous, I found myself changing my mind about what the typical thief is like. She was never intending to hurt anyone, and I think that's what we generally think about a person committing a crime.

Story #2: This story, about a senior citizen woman that gets a thrill out of shoplifting, was definitely the most compelling and shocking to me. We have this stereotypical image of a thief, and a sweet, old lady just does not fit that description. However, in this story, you learn that senior citizens shoplift more than most groups of people, and often, it is simply out of boredom. The thing that struck me the most about this woman was that she seemed to miss shoplifting. It had become an addiction to her, and she seemed to feel as if she could stay young by stealing. At one point, she says that she would much rather be out shoplifting than be in a home for seniors playing bridge. I honestly felt sorry for her that she depending so much on stealing as a source for happiness. This story really made me think of stealing as something that can be addictive, like a drug or alcohol for other people.

I thought this was really interesting because it made me think about the motives behind crime. Often we think of thieves as being these "bad" people that have no feelings or good intentions, but the people depicted in this show seem to be the complete opposite. I was surprised how often that these people felt as if the earned what they stole, and it made me question whether or not stealing could somehow be the result of an emotional disorder instead of a lack of morals.