My roommate likes to talk. A LOT. Like, he talks about everything in his life, which, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind most of the time. He gives us brief glimpses into his life as a college student and some of the people he has met. One of his fellow classmates is a Kleptomaniac, or at least he makes it sound that way. For those of you who haven’t heard this word, kleptomaniacs are people who steal even though there is no financial gain. It is like an obsessive compulsion, and this is why celebrities (Winona Ryder to name one) who shoplift, shock the public so much.
Unlike most of the stories my friend told, I was super obsessed with this person. I kept asking questions about what she was stealing and why she was doing it. The “why” was completely unanswered, my friend didn’t know why she stole either. My obsession over this enigma would culminate into one action.
Now, I am the kind of girl who could never tell a lie; I try to be as honest as possible. Even when I have lied in my life, it was so obvious that anyone could easily tell. I had been thinking of this idea of stealing since hearing these stories, although I never thought I would ever actually steal something.
I had no plan whatsoever. But, after standing in the store looking at an overpriced tube of lipstick (I had recently run out of pink lip stick)… I did it. Now, I would like to say that my actions were heroic, and some act against capitalism and “the man,” but in reality they weren’t.
The act was surprisingly easy. I looked for any employees around… none. Okay, now cameras, one to my right. I turned my body to block the camera view from my hands. Okay, double check for employees… nope. Switching my purse from one shoulder to the other I slipped the tube into my purse.
No alarms… good. Slow movements, keeping in time with my rhythm. No fast movements or sudden changes to draw attention to myself. Good. Making my way to the exit, OMG, the sensors at the door (cue curse word in my head). I hadn’t thought about them, but after a brief thought, I realized there was no way they would be primed to go off with a tube of lipstick. I walked though and… FREEDOM! I made it out through the sensors and with no guards chasing me. I had beaten the system; my blood was coursing with adrenalin. I felt like I had reached a runner’s high, I AM ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
I had reached a “high” in creating my little experiment. This is what leads to a serial shoplifter; much like an addiction, these people are reaching for that high. Psychologically, shoplifters struggle between tension and excitement when in action, and the ending of tension releases a large amount of excitement.
Some people, who admit to shop lifting, say that this high is the real reward from shoplifting. The actual stolen object means nothing. Many people who become addicted are trying to resolve feelings such as depression. This is a temporary release, hence, when a person becomes addicted to shoplifting, they are continually trying to recreate the high.
While I do not have any addiction to shop lifting and I do not plan to ever steal again. It is interesting to see why people might continue to shop lift. My experience has given me an insight into the “why” of shoplifting, but it doesn’t explain why my friend’s friend does it, nor will I never know.
Winona Ryder has said (in Interview Magazine), getting caught shoplifting saved her life because it made her admit that she had issues going on that she had to work on. While I have gotten over my obsession with shoplifting, I still have that lipstick, and for some unknown reason when I wear it, I feel like one hell of a sexy badass woman!
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