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I want to put my wallet out and see if this kid I know tries steal anything out of it and then confront him about it. The thing is I'm almost positive he will try to steal it. I just want to put him in his place. Am I a bad person for doing this?
Reminds me of that show Bait car. Is the whole point to catch him and make him feel bad or are there ulterior motives?
Yeah dude, that is entrapment!
Now let me share a story. There was this "friend" of mine that I used to smoke with. We were hanging out and I bought this cool mushroom-shaped two-piece pipe so we could smoke out of it. Somehow I ended up letting him borrow it for a while. Later on in the day I asked where my pipe was. He said that he did not know and the last he saw it was when he supposedly handed it back to me. I knew he was lying and so I waited until he was about to leave. Before he could leave I got in front of him, blocking the exit, and said, "empty your pockets!" He knew he was caught red-handed and gave the pipe back to me right away and said he was sorry. I told him he was lucky I did not beat his ass right then and there.
I never hung out with him again.
So what if he opens it, sees your name and then finds you and gives it back to you intact, will you be shocked? I think you're looking for trouble.
somebody's been reading too many The Hardy Boys novels ^_^
i hate that emoticon. death to ^_^
Why don't you just picket his house with a sign saying "Joe is a Fuckin Thief! Jesus loves him anyways"
DO IT!!
Do it and if you catch him in the act, confront him. Draw on an intense emotion from the past, and then beat the living sh** right out of him.
The element of surprise is your best weapon. Be prepared for a skirmish.
No, you're not a bad person. Someone who would steal something just because they think they can get away with it IS a bad person.
I think it a good idea. Just because it's in site don't mean help yourself. Getting caught would be a good lesson he might not forget. But some people never learn. And if you let him back in your taking a chance. But he knows you would know and kick his ass. I have learned not to blame to fast when I'm missing something. If you do blame someone and then find it you feel like an ass.
my first boss used to put a dollar on middle of the office in plain view to see if he could trust his employees. no-one ever touched that dollar.
If you feel he us a thief then set him up. Hopefully you have more grounds personally to believe he is but if he doesn't take it or takes it and brings it to you then you should confront and apologize for setting him up. It's really a lesson that could go either way.
What if the kid does it only cause yu put the wallet where he can find it? Come on,you cannot tempt a kid like that then go:I knew it!and just scold him.He might have not even stolen anything before and you just forgot how much money you had in it.I suggest you give him a speech about private property,without actually blaming him for anything,explaining him why stealing is wrong and what could happen to him if he does it as an adult.Alternative: watch a movie with him in which there is a thief stealing something then take it from there.Tell him:it is a crime not to steal a breadloaf if you are hungy but if they catch you doing it in saudi arabia they would cut your hand off!
Knowing you would ground him probably would just add some extra thrill to it,but he would not stop.
If it is a kid with some troubles understanding the message you can just steal something from him and then go:do you like how it feels getting something taken away from you?Well that is how I felt. Then give him back whatever you stole from him and as you give him a big hug tell him to promise you never to steal anything ever again cause you would not like the thought of him going to jail over a breadloaf or get his hand cut off.
Doing what you have in mind only would teach him:to steal if he knows for sure he won't get caught,so you could actually trigger a backfiring reaction making him ever more able to identify the right victims to steal stuff from,so he would just learn to be a better thief.He might stop stealing from you,but steal more from other kids.
That of course if he really did steal anything.If he did not you'd be just tipping him off.
My dad handled it this way:he found out why I was stealing money from his wallet,then just started giving me the money I needed so I did not have to sneak in his room and take it.But at the same time he made sure he left only the amount of money I would need in the wallet,so I had to decide whether to take it and leave the wallet empty,or leave it there and ask him later to give me the money I needed and of course tell him what I was gonna do with it.
Like:I know you need the money,I just wanna make sure you do not get in trouble to get it and use it wisely,and right now,you are doing the first thing and not the other.
Got it?
I'd pick up the wallet and put it in my pocket. What does that tell you? That I'm a thief? Even though the truth is that I picked it up so someone else wouldn't steal it, and I'd be then trying to track down the rightful owner?
Doesn't make you a bad person. Because if they aren't a thief they won't take any money.