I remember my first introduction to peer pressure was when I was still a little kid, no older than eight years old at the most. The kids I hung around with were your typical average kids in my neighborhood. However, there was a girl that I knew, who was the sister of one of my brother’s best friends from school and she lived several streets from our block.
One day this girl was hanging out at our house and talked my older sister, youngest brother and I to accompany her to the local five and dime store. (Think in terms of Ben Franklin, Skaggs, Osco Drug, Kats,), those kind of stores.
She told us that you didn’t need any money to buy things you wanted and we believed her not knowing or even realizing the potential serious trouble we’d find ourselves in by the end of the day, either. This particular girl knew that we had a weakness for penny candy and toys. My sister, young brother, and I were intrigued at first how this girl went on a “shopping spree” while curiously selecting small items at her fancy and concealing the items in her coat pockets while trying to be inconspicuous in her demeanor.
Being the very naive kids with impressionable minds, we loiter in a toy aisle and follow her example without knowing that the closed circuit security cameras were monitoring our five finger discounts. The girl asks us, “Do you like that,” and “Those sunglasses are totally awesome!” Meanwhile, she stuffs a pair of brand new sunglasses in her coat pocket.
The store employees, especially that of the cashiers go about their business at first, until they spot us making repeated trips to the same store in the same day. On the last trip we were busted BIG time and this day taught me a very good learning lesson as to why kids shouldn’t steal. Not only is very wrong, it also made the store employees wonder if our parents knew what was going on. You bet my parents found out. They became highly suspicious when we showed off a brand new pair of sunglasses that we couldn’t have afforded with our allowance money. When we were kids we had no idea that shoplifting was a crime with serious consequences with possible jail time and fines attached.
Luckily for our parents, the manager of the five and dime store decided not to press any criminal charges nor send our little butts to a juvenile detention center, either. In fact, after we had tearfully admitted our wrong doing and promised to never steal again, we were released.
First, I never shopped at that particular five and dime store after that incident because I was so ashamed at that girl, who had talked us into stealing in the first place. Secondly, I never did go shopping with that particular girl again as well because of this particular incident, either. However, it wouldn’t be the last time I would be faced with peer pressure. To Be Continued…