Frank went over to the Metallica section and found a CD that had recently came out, that he wanted real bad, but, he did not have the money to pay for it, and he knew it would be sold out real soon.
He glanced around and noticed their were very few people in the store, and he did not see any security cameras. Also, the store clerk was busy helping another customer. So he quickly slid the CD into his jacket pocket.
He then went over to where his friends were. After a few more minutes of looking around, they decided to leave. Well Frank forgot to think about the security labels they have on the CD's. So when they started past the doors, an alarm went off, Frank panicked, and started running.
Eventually a mall security guard caught up with him and his friends, and held them until the police arrived. When the police arrived, they questioned the boys and determined that Frank was the only one with stolen merchandise. He was then arrested and hauled off to jail. While in jail, he made his one and only phone call to his parents, who were very angry and upset with him, but eventually they did come down and pay the bail money to get him out.
A couple months later, he went to court and the judge sentenced him to 100 hours of community service, and 1 year of probation. Since it was his first time in trouble with the law, the judge wanted to scare him a little. He eventually completed his community service and was eventually released from his probation.
He was glad all that was behind him and that he could now get his life back.
A couple years later, he was in desperate need of a job, and he loved music, so he went down to the local music store to apply for a job. After filling out the application for employment, he eventually came to the box which asked, "Have you been convicted of a crime within the last 5 years?" And he didn't think much of it, and answered yes.
A couple days later, the employer contacted him for an interview. He went down and things were going good, until the employer came across the box checked yes. The employer asked him what it was about. He was honest and told the interviewer it was due to him making one bad mistake a couple years ago, and he stole one CD from a store at the mall.
The store manager said, "So you are a thief?" And Frank told the man he was not. The manager said, "Well, you did steal something a couple years ago, did you not?" Frank said yes. And the manager said again, "Well that makes you a thief, right?" Frank said, no, my past does not define who I am as a person, and I've learned from my past mistake, so no, I am not a thief, I am a person who made one bad mistake and stole something. If I was constantly going around stealing stuff, then you could call me a thief, but I am not. The manager then asked "Well, how do I know you won't steal something from our store? I have heard that people who steal stuff, usually continue doing so. So how can I trust you?" Frank said, well, you don't know if I will or won't steal anything, all you have is my word. You can either not hire me, or have faith in me and let me prove myself to you. I love music and I've always wanted to work in a music store. So I asked you to please have faith in me, give me a chance!
Well the manager trusted Frank and decided to give him a chance. Now, many years later, Frank is the store manager, and is planning on opening his own music store real soon, thanks to the man who gave him that chance.
So, the moral of the story is, your past does not define who you are. Just because a person makes one mistake, doesn't make them that person for life, or because you may have been abused as a child, doesn't make you a victim for life. If you always see yourself as a thief or victim, then you will always be a thief or victim.
I thought of this, after seeing the usual "Once a sex offender, always a sex offender" comment on another story. That is just the most ignorant thing I have ever heard. Using that same logic, you could say that a person who stole one thing in life, is and will always be a thief, which would include almost 100% of us. Or someone who used drugs once, is and will always be a druggie.
Of course this is not true, but many people believe it, when it comes to sex offenders.
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