I wasn’t sure if I should even respond to this comment left by a reader recently. But I did. Shame on me if I let my emotions get away with me for a minute, but I’m not sorry. You can find the original post here.

Here’s the comment:

mik // Feb 10, 2008 at 3:43 pm

sounds like you think you’re somehow above these people because you wouldn’t do that. do you know everything about their situation? you would do exactly the same in their position, I can assure you. I have seen people do things they would never have even considered when circumstances turn against them. And almost always the cause is laws which are designed to protect people who have enough money to not worry about such trivial matters as whats right and wrong, but punish those who do not have the resources to comply.

And here is my reply:

Thanks for the comment, mik.
Let me respond by saying you make some assumptions about me which are false. First, I have been at the bottom, and I never resorted to theft as a means to get by. Second, I have 2 kids, and they are the most important people in my life. I would never, ever, put them in harm’s way like this. No matter the circumstances, I wouldn’t risk the safety or wellbeing of my kids. Even if I did feel like stealing was the only way to survive, I would NOT expose my kids to it, and I would NEVER leave one of them behind just to save myself.
Finally, my experience tells me that 99% of the time, it is not necessity that drives thieves to steal, but greed. So I may not know everything about their situation, but the statistics are in my favor. They were probably stealing because they thought the reward outweighed the consequence.

Anybody want to weigh in?

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