im a gronk but i think it's still relevant, try to avoid power level or massive text but also nature of the thread and meant as warning. obv stealing is bad and in recovery, mainly serves as warning etc. i first started by a ball of experimenting, learning how to in heavy fear of going homeless, and desire was there too. i started very small, think first thing was technically a small detached pendant piece on the ground that was borderline trash but i put it in my pocket. gradually escalated as saw forum posts and random info, and learned to note cameras, remove/tamper barcodes, except for places with seemingly no exit scan security like convenience stores. i'd take a big jacket, wear it on my hand or buggy like i was hot, and just cover products in blind spots like that. otherwise don't dress like a thug, act calm as possible, avoid attention. the top danger of lifting, and i didn't believe it when i heard it, was that you eventually will get overconfident and fuck up. maybe you won't notice cameras, maybe you will grab too much etc. only time im aware i was caught i zoned out once and acted especially like a borderline retard basically for shoes, very very shamefuru display of criminal activity but i believe it worked in my favor and wound up being treated super lightly from it. however, when a relative first got the call (employee cross referenced the member number of a person i went in and left with, clever af i must admit), relative was surprisingly nice about it and said something similar to you fucked up but don't do this again and we'll fix it. guilt was extremely crushing, i was worried about a record piling up and possible impacts on family for bail or payments etc, so i held onto a gun a bit and considered hitting the eject button but didnt in part because someone else near me did the same and had already held a promise to someone else i wouldn't.
i had minor "relapses" after that, but after a while my brain chemistry or thoughts began to change, and i started going from "how can i take this" to remembering it's wrong to do and returning to a state of moral standards. i have the basic knowledge and wouldn't hesitate much (if i was explicitly homeless and needed food) to take a can and eat it in the bathroom, but other than that or other do or suffer bad/die situations, lifting can really create a blood in the water effect, and you can even develop it as a coping mechanism, super stressful situation, fuck it ill grab something i dont really need etc. it also wears at morals, builds nihlism and less caring, puts yourself and family at risk. on a basic level, fuck big corporations, fuck a lot of stores honestly, but it leeches to worst case scenario taking from personal people no matter how much a code you have, and it decays yourself.
highly recommended to not only stop or don't do it, but id go so far as to say to never learn how to easily do it or ways to do so to avoid temptation in the first place. the scariest thing to me from it was even from a lower tier crime than the real big boys, you corrupt yourself and you don't even notice it until you stop. it numbs you and can lead to harder crimes or trying to lift more and more which will eventually fuck you no matter how good you are, and if nothing else guilt and self judgement can fuck you. again, yes, fuck walmart etc but everyone deserves to be the best version of themselves, and it's a crime to yourself first. be homeless if it has to come to that but keep yourself and the ability to trust yourself and for others to trust you.
