People Who've Committed A Crime and Gotten Away With It Share Their Experiences

We're human, which means we all make mistakes. Some mistakes are simple, like making a wrong turn at the red light or snapping at someone we love when we're hungry. These are things that can be easily corrected or apologized for.
Committing a crime, though, may not be so easily rectified.
That is, if the person gets caught.
Ready for a juicy story, Redditor Lozepam asked:
"Redditors who have committed a crime and got away with it. What crime did you commit and what's the story?"
Rental Returns
"I was 10. I took my own mowing money and rented a copy of 'Megaman X'."
"I never took it back, ever. The store was open for another few years and eventually shut down. They told me I owed them hundreds of dollars for late fees."
"AND I F**KIN' GOT AWAY WITH IT."
- k0uch
Glitch in the System
"There was an Amazon price glitch, and I got two monitors for free. The first time was an accident, and the second time was to test the theory. I didn't want to do it a third time, because intentionally it can be a crime."
- KiwiCatPNW
All the Free Pizza
"I exploited a bug in Domino's pizza app."
"They said I can use only one coupon, but once I got to the payment page, there was an option to 'add coupon' if I tried to input another coupon it said, 'cannot redeem more than once.'"
"But it did allow one coupon that would randomly pop up in ads, I saved it in a notepad and it gave me a 40% discount."
"I used it like this for about two years. I used them for combo two pizza coupons or free stuff like deserts, garlic bread, and got a 40% discount."
- EastOrganization2392
School Hopping
"I used to break into schools when I was in high school."
"My friends and I would sneak out of the house around 2 AM and drive to various towns and climb up to the school roofs and try and find a way in most of the time successfully and sometimes not."
"We called it 'School hopping.'"
"We didn't destroy anything or do anything bad. It was just innocent fun."
"But we made it our mission to kick all of the balls off the roof that had been up there since probably forever so the kids would show up for school the next day with all the balls they lost back and ready to play with. We made that our main mission."
"But if we got caught, we'd probably go to jail."
"I moved to Japan 16 years ago after I finished college and even broke into a school in the Japanese countryside."
"Talk about a special kind of stupid... That would either have been jail in Japan or instant deportation back to the states if caught."
"But still here in Tokyo and yet to be arrested! Go me?"
"I'm an idiot."
- Few-Frosting-1398
Musical Karma
"Warning, this story is extremely 90's: I used to go to Tower Records (along with supporting my local record store lol!). Once I bought a copy of the live version of Pink Floyd's the wall there, unopened, and when I got it home both disks were dislodged from their backings and scratched to hell, unplayable."
"Not only did the Tower clerks refuse to take it back even for credit, but they were also super rude, laughing in my face to boot."
"So... I went back the next day and picked out a whole bunch of CDs I had my eye on and took them to the book section. Yes, they had a book section, ironically with a lot of books that encouraged stealing like 'Steal This Book.'"
"I took one of those large format art books like H.R. Giger or whatever, sat on the floor criss-cross applesauce, opened it my lap, then held the CDs underneath while I stripped off the security tags with a box-cutter on my keychain."
"Then I stuffed the ten or so CDs into the pockets of my huge cargo shorts (again, 90's), put the book back, and walked straight out through the metal detector."
"This worked so well, I did it every week all summer, until I had a whole new record collection courtesy of the Tower, when they could have just taken the damn album back."
"Never did anything like this again, and I realize I got carried away, but to this day, I don't feel bad about it."
- ThirstyHank
Anticlimactic Results
"When I was about ten, I found this shawl while shopping with my mom and insisted she buy it for me, but she refused, saying it was 'too expensive.'"
"I found a discount sticker on a random item in the store, peeled it off, and put it on the tag for the shawl, and then told my mother I found a second one that was cheaper."
"It worked. The store honored the discount on the sticker, and my mom bought me the shawl."
"I got home, put it in my drawer, but never wore it. It stayed there for almost a decade until I got rid of it."
- triSARAHtops22
Arsenic Samaritans
"The woods a few miles from my house had a huge mountain of old tires. A friend and I set them on fire, not realizing how quickly it would get out of hand."
"Before we knew it, there was a massive, out-of-control fire burning in the woods."
"We ran and called 911 and told them we were walking by and saw it. We were featured in the paper the next day as 'good Samaritans.'"
- DelTheInsane
Father and Son Crime-Bonding
"I don’t actually know if it’s a 'crime,' but what I would call 'industrial espionage.'"
"My dad is a big business guy. Many years ago, when I was just learning how to edit photos with something other than MS Paint and whatnot, my dad asked if I would make up some quotes for him with the company letterhead… of their competitor."
"A competitor was going to get a big sale because they were legitimately cheaper. So I made these quotes making it look like the competitor was actually going to be more expensive. It worked."
"I wish I remembered the dollar figure, but it was over 15 years ago and I really had no clue what I was involved in. Just wanted to make my dad happy and proud of me."
- MrLanesLament
You're Not Law-Abiding When You're Hungry
"I stole a Snickers out of Kmart when I was eight. I got it all the way home. I remember being paranoid about the wrapper before eventually burying it in the flower bed by the front porch."
- Cold_Durian1796
Continuing Education
"I never returned my college textbooks. Just forgot. Barnes and Noble absolutely hounded my a** for a couple of years, but I just never picked up the phone. I guess they eventually gave up."
"So now I have my very own little free library about Religion in Medieval Iberia. Yaaay."
- nicekona
Dangerous Chemistry
"Made napalm with some other kids in the neighborhood, put a little bit around the seat of a Porto potty and… whaddya know, turns out that’s enough to melt the entire Porto into a hot goo pile."
"The Fire Dept showed up and put it out while we watched from the bushes."
- AndyC-AndyDo
Increasing Gnome Population
"I grew up in a small town. One night, my best friend and I broke into the fairgrounds and stole a bunch of s**t. Little gnomes, planters, flags, etc."
"We then put them randomly all over town. It made the small little paper and everyone was perplexed. It was me!"
- Immajustbrowse19
Phone Hacking
"Back when phones were still using old tech and payphones were still around, you could play tones into the phone to make it think you put money in."
"When I was a teenager, I used to make and sell 'red boxes' that would let you do that. It cost about $10 for the parts from Mouser electronics, and I sold them for $50."
- CyberneticPanda
The Tell-Tale Heart
"I stole a necklace from a gas station when I was five years old. I asked my mom for it and she said no, so I shoved it in my pocket. I got away with it and was never caught."
"However, the guilt was eating me alive. I couldn't stand to wear the necklace so I buried it in the backyard."
"Somehow, being denied the catharsis of punishment was worse than if I had just been caught and punished."
"I worried for at LEAST three years that I would be found out."
- glitterlipgloss
Quirky Steals
"When I was a kid I stuffed my pockets with coffee beans from Kroger."
"When I got home, I asked my cousin if they wanted any and showed them my pockets stuffed with coffee beans."
"They looked at me like I was stupid."
- HeyImDay20
Though most of these were low-scale crimes, it makes sense that committing the crime would still haunt some people. We certainly don't condone these, but they were all quite interesting to read.
Though stolen kisses are said to be the sweetest, maybe that's not so true of stolen candy bars and necklaces.
Though it's often used as the butt of jokes, there's still a lot to appreciate in the United States, whether you live there or are visiting.
But there are also a lot of things that leave onlookers infinitely perplexed about what it's actually like to live in the United States and why they do things like that.
Redditor DadIsMadAtMe asked:
"What’s the hardest thing for you to comprehend about the American culture?"
School Pride!
"School mascots. Where I live, we just have teams and just play matches against people."
"In America, it’s all like, 'GO, EASTTOWN EAGLES!!! OOGACHACKA!' and there would be some person in a cheapo eagle suit spinning a basketball on his fingers or something. You would have a full dramatic cheerleader dance-off before your match, we just shake hands and stare hard at each other."
- benderbrodriguez2
No Child Left Behind
"Canadian here on spring break in Florida."
"I can't get over the baseline... I don't know how to say it, the baseline education level? There are smart people, but there are also completely uneducated people. Like, the divide is massive."
- Spiffydude98
Little-To-No Paid Time Off
"Having two weeks vacation or no PTO (Personal Time Off) for most."
"In my current country, you have to take two weeks of mandatory leave in a row. Including public holidays, I get about seven weeks of vacation per year."
- poor_decision
Financial Debt Culture
"How casual debt is, how easy it is to take loans and credit cards out in other people's names without their knowledge, and how casual it is to rack up huge amounts of debt."
- StrangeDarkling
...Enough Said.
"College fraternities."
- Gorazde
Where's the Poutine?
"Americans love french fries, cheese, and gravy, but poutine never took off south of the border. Always found that odd."
- righhanddan
Zero-Tolerance Policies
"The zero-tolerance rule... Who came up with that s**t? The victim is the one who is f**ked. Either he gets bullied or he gets a penalty for defending himself."
- vomahaf244
Political Followers
"A lot of people follow and worship politicians like they’re gods with flags and all that s**t. In the UK, it’s universally acknowledged that we hate all politicians pretty much equally."
- Monkeytennis01
Tipping Culture
"Having to tip almost everywhere. It definitely makes sense at some places, but feel like we have to tip at the most random of places these days."
- Educational_Word_647
Cultural Appropriation
"I speak as a Latin American, just setting that down on the table."
"I don’t get why people think that using something from my culture or showing interest in Latin culture is 'cultural appropriation.' I’ve even spoken to a lot of people in my culture about this thing and we all think it’s alright."
- OG_sweaterguy
Healthcare
"Your healthcare system, it's so complicated and expensive. And people going bankrupt because they get sick, what bulls**ttery is this?"
- MrTempleDene
The Stereotypical American Eagle
"American here, fun fact! That stereotypical screech you commonly hear associated with the bald eagle is actually a red-tailed hawk. Bald eagles do not make that sound. They make more of a weird (way less cool) chirping sound."
"I was too old when I learned this for the first time."
- ay-aye-ron
Plus Tax... What?
"Why don't they include tax in the total price of something? Just include it and make life easier. I don't want to have to do maths every time I go there and buy something."
- Old_Understanding325
Not In That Exact Order
"You are allowed to drive a car at 16, own guns, and sign up for the military at 18. But alcohol, behold the devil's liquid!, is only for 21+. The math ain't mathin'."
- lover_of_wisdom_
Money Money Money Money
"Lobbying."
"Legal bribery, what the h**l."
"Also, why do you have to do your taxes? If the Government, in the end, knows if what you paid was what you actually owed, why not just tell you."
- Lolleos
People looking in on the United States definitely had some questions about the people who live there and the systems they have to observe. But the big secret is that many Americans are asking the same exact questions.
People Confess Which Things They Swore They'd Never Do As A Kid But Ended Up Doing Anyway
When you were younger, your protected perspective on life and the world was probably significantly different compared to now.
Before life experience informed your decisions, younger you most likely had higher aspirations to achieve a specific goal or swore off doing something you found objectionable.
But here you are, as an adult, doing the exact opposite of what you had intended.
Curious to hear from strangers online about their developmental growth, Redditor 1234kyou_ asked:
"What did you swear in your childhood you would never do, but ended up doing anyways?"
Some hobbies that delighted us as kids never really go away as these Redditors have experienced.
The "Bird Creep"
"Birdwatching. I used to think it was the lamest way someone could spend their time when I was a kid. How could anyone just sit around and look at birds? What are you, some kind of bird creep? ... 20 years later and I'm obsessed with birds. Love hearing their songs and seeing all the beautiful colors."
– Koala-teas
Unfilled Dream
"Give up drawing."
"I actually broke my own heart when I recently found a school project we did back when I was a kid. We had to write a letter for our future selves and mine starts with: 'Hey, did you become an artist already? I really hope you did not become a boring adult with a boring job who gave up on his dreams and passions.'"
"Well, sorry little me, but I kinda did."
– Aesma_
Tending To One's Garden
"Gardening. We had a large garden. We raised and preserved what we grew. It was me and my sister's job to care for this garden. This was back when whipping your child was acceptable punishment. I was whipped sooo many times, because I hated that I had to grew and preserved vegetables I did not like. I hated it! Swore I'd never have a garden. Never do THAT to my kids. Then I had kids. A switch flipped in my head. I had to have a garden! I never made my kids take care of it. Gardening was my 'me' time. But being little kids, they wanted to be with mom and 'help' with the garden. I 'gave' them an area and they were allowed to grow whatever they wanted. If it was a fruit or vegetables , they had to eat it. As a result, they both love gardening and neither are picky eaters."
– Eogh21
When it comes to keeping it in the family, it's not always the goal.
Like Father...
"I have become my father."
– jer1303
Like Mother...
"I have become my mom.... even the voice is similar."
– rogue1206
Dad's Cynicism
"I've taken on a lot more of my dad's cynicism than I would like, but mostly I have my mom's wonder and carefreeness."
"But my dad is rich and mom is poor."
"He does not share the wealth he just shares 'you should've done X like this'. But his advice is the level of 'tear down the sign punch them in the face and say you're looking at your new employee'. I've also never heard a single dad joke from him."
– BugTester350
Posthumous Disapproval
"When I was touring houses to buy before the pandemic, my mother's spirit must have possessed me because I opened my mouth and her voice said 'i don't know, i don't think I could live in a house without both a coat closet and a linen closet.'"
– TJtherock
Adulting is hard.
The Financial Hole
"Get into debt I can't pay off."
– lilviviv
Potty-Mouth
"I said I wouldn’t curse unless a nuke was dropped on my house. That was a f'king lie."
– -notjosh-
Can't Wait, Don't Hate
"Have sex before marriage. Thank f'k I never made good on that one since I'm 41 and have never been married."
– squid1891
I'm a pretty fussy eater. Always have been.
I grew up in a Japanese family where regularly eating natto was a thing.
Natto is a Japanese dish made from Bacillus subtilis-fermented soybeans. It's known to have magical health benefits but the smell is overwhelmingly powerful, and the nutty taste leaves little to be desired.
Many people not used to eating exotic foods can't stand the flavor and slimy, sticky texture–let alone the pungent aroma.
I swore as a child that would be the one food I would never eat again after having a bad experience.
And yet, here I am as an adult, eating it for breakfast 2-3 times a week after truly understanding the health benefits.
Natto–which is rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals– helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels, reduces blood pressure, and can prevent heart disease. Some studies have suggested it can prevent certain cancers.
Once I trained myself to get used to flavor and smell, I actually crave it now.
It's definitely an acquired taste, but it's crazy to know that we are all capable of liking or appreciating something previously thought of as repulsive once we set our mind to it.
Finding love is something that nearly everyone hopes for at some point in their life.
For some, love practically finds them. They hardly need any time searching for the true love.
Others might have to work a little harder and be a little more patient. They never give up the hope that their one true love is out there, somewhere.
Then there are those for whom the search simply isn't worth it and have found themselves resigned to the fact that they may never find someone.
Whether or not that's how they want their life to be.
"Have you given up on love, if so why?"
Fear Of Getting Hurt
"To me the price I have to pay if I want to be in a relationship is I have to be vulnerable."
"And at some level I just don’t want to get hurt that bad again."
"I accept this, and have family, friends, work, hobbies, and things to look forward to."
"So while I wouldn’t say I have given up on love, I’m not looking for it and would be very wary of any new situation."- hdhdhdhdzjursx
"Gotta be honest, pretty much have."
"The last person I loved romantically found just about every way to put me down and reject me, all the while pulling me back in repeatedly."
"It was not worth it."
"I'm going solo but still kind of hoping for Miracle."
"I like me."- ATXDefenseAttorney
Don't Have The Energy
"Yes, because I'm tired."
"Tired of going out to find someone to love, tired of getting to know a new person and being comfortable enough to fall in love, tired of learning new things about this new person and whether we are compatible, tired of meeting each other's families and getting to know a whole new bunch of people..."
"Being single may be lonely, but I won't be exhausted."- Avelevanstar
"Not sure if I've given up, but I am getting real tired."
"Having to get to know new people, putting my heart out there without knowing if I'll succeed this time, so tiring."
"I'm learning more about myself in therapy, and I've seen ladies' heads turn when I speak, I've been told I have a nice voice, but chasing a lady is so much work for so little payoff."
"Never had a girlfriend before too, and I'm hitting 40 soon."
"Each new lady is a learning experience but it's also incredibly draining."
"Sometimes I just wanna curl up on my bed and ignore the whole world."- Blim004
It's Given Up On Them
"I haven't given up on love, but I doubt I will ever love again."
"After 53 years and so many attempts that ended in tears, I don't think I will ever have that chance again for a variety of reasons."
"I spend times just trying to come to terms that I will die alone someday."- kalwayne3573
For Their own Self-Care
"Yes."
"For now."
"Need to repair myself so the next guy doesn’t have to do it for me."- Beginning-Match592
Lack Of Reciprocation
"Given up on love as I am the only one loving, the others just need me."
"When they're done, they push me away."- gameygamer15
Traumatized By Past Mistakes
"Ever fallen in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love?"
"So that's why, though I hope time will heal me or sth."- guess_I_feed
"I was in a 10-year abusive relationship."
"Unfortunately I didn’t realize until very late and then I ended it."
"It’s too much of a risk to meet someone again as these type of people are very manipulative and you don’t realize the cruelty they are capable of until you are trauma bonded."
"It’s not easier being single but it’s a lot less heartache."
"I thank my lucky stars every day that I got out."- corickle
"My last four love interests either cheated or 'found a girlfriend'."
"It's left me believing I'm just not a person who can be romantically loved."- Owlmystery
Happy Being Alone
"I’m not capable of giving someone my all and I enjoy my time alone more than anything."
"Two failed marriages later, we chillin."- HDTempo
Life Is Good The Way It Is
"I had a big love."
"It didn't work out."
"Now I live a truly beautiful life alone and I wouldn't trade it for the world."
"I just spent the weekend with my friend, her toddler, new puppy and failing marriage and when I got home I nearly cried with the feeling of gratitude for my peaceful life."- spice-pop
"On romantic love, yes."
"I have so many social aversions and require so much space that I'm neither capable or interested to nurture such a relationship."
"I'm happier and more functional on my own."- USAIsAUcountry
Literally Don't Know What They're Missing
"Never been loved before, can't miss what I haven't experienced."- Allnutsz
Social Anxiety
"I wasn't socialized from the ages 12-22 and have severe social anxiety."
"It's hard to meet people when you're terrified of them."- owe-me
The true romantics should never give up the hope that their soulmate is out there, somewhere.
That being said, being without a partner is nothing to be ashamed of.
As the only person in control of your own happiness, is you and you alone.
Hiring Managers Explain Which Mistakes Make Them Want To Throw Away Someone's Resume
A resume is so much more than just a simple list of your work experience.
Indeed, your resume is the first step in getting your foot in the door to your dream job, highlighting not only your past experience but your skill set, as well as things about you that will make recruiters want to get to know you more.
On the flip side, sometimes there are things on your resume that will automatically send you to the reject pile.
Of course, this is bound to include common, careless mistakes such as spelling and grammar errors or missing vital information, such as a phone number or email.
However, no two hiring managers will have the same set of red flags they look for on a resume. This can make finding a format that will please everyone something of a fool's errand.
"Hiring managers of Reddit: What makes you immediately throw out a résumé?"
Not In It For The Long Run
"I once received an application from a man in his 60s."
"Solid CV, lots of experience."
"In his cover letter he wrote 'I'm applying because the Job Centre asked me to'."
"Please note that I intend to retire in 6 months time'."
"We had a good laugh, then sent him a very polite rejection letter and wished him a great retirement."-BeerPoweredNonsense
Make Sure They Actually Get The Right Document...
"One time I had someone upload how to upload their resume from Dropbox instead of their resume."- rabidwhale
Always Proof Read!
"I'll usually still interview unless there is no relevant experience, but I've seen some atrocious resumes."
"I've seen people use crutch words like 'uh' in writing for a job description."
"I've also seen a sentence 4 lines long with zero punctuation."
"The same resume will have 'attention to detail' as a skill set."
"I've interviewed for one of those resumes, and the applicant said 'I dunno" to about 80% of my questions, and it turned out he didn't even know what job he applied for'."
"It's not that I'm overly picky, but if someone can't spend the 20 minutes or less that it takes to proof read their resume, are they going to put a lot of effort into their job?"
"Maybe, but it's hard to know."- ChristyM4ck
Make Sure It's Legible
"The only time I have ever had to throw out a resume was because someone possibly had it in a bag with their lunch and the paper was soaking wet and dissolving as I tried to unfold it."
"It was just unacceptable to process."
"The application was left in a drop box so I don’t know if it was a prank or an actual applicant."- 416unknown
Unprofessional Email Address
"Back in 98 I asked a new group of hires at GIECO to write their email addresses on a list that was passed around."
"Remember email was kinda new back then.. "
"One young female employee's email address included 'mybaldc**tchie'."- catjugglinpimp
Never Send Someone In Your Place
"It’s been a long time but I used to do hiring for a cinema."
"Staff were often young, for many it was a first job, making popcorn and selling tickets type of gig."
"I would not pursue anything where parents came in with a CV for their teenager or if parents were contacting me on behalf of their teen."
"Big red flag."
"Either their kid didn’t want he job in the first place or they’re incapable of taking initiative and it doesn’t bode well for how they’d be as an employee."- FigJamAndCitrus
"Having your parents submit your resume while you stand silently beside them."- krim2182
It's Pure, Dumb Luck!
"I remember a meme or maybe a tv skit from a while back."
"The hiring manager had a huge pile of resumes on his desk."
"Someone asked how he was going to sift through them all."
"He took 2/3rds of the pile, threw them in the trash, and remarked 'I don't hire unlucky people'."
"Lol."- SpecialSpite7115
All About The Formatting
"This doesn’t matter 100% of the time but bad formatting."
"If it’s hard to read I probably won’t read it."- Far-Gain-3081
Depends On The Job
"If it's a professional position, significant spelling errors will make me pass on a resume."
"If it's a warehouse job or something, I'm less concerned."- staffsargent
Don't Treat It Like A Text Message!
"Former hiring manager here."
"I tossed MULTIPLE resumes that used text message abbreviations throughout the resume and cover letter and one that included emojis."
"While you can do pretty much anything from your phone, it doesn’t mean you should."- spectacularuhoh
Choose Your References Wisely
"Not me, but a friend who checks resumes/CVs had a belter."
"Candidate had a conviction and his reference was his friend 'Baz'."- LexiRae24
Make Sure You Have The Relevant Skills
"I know it’s pretty specific but If your looking for a scheduling job make sure you know how to use Excel and clearly state it on your resume."
"It will probably get thrown out otherwise."- LoyalPlanets
As stated before, no two hiring departments will have exactly the same prerequisites and red flags, so no matter how hard you work, your resume is never going to please everyone.
That being said, multiple misspellings and a cheeky e-mail address are a surefire guarantee of not pleasing anyone.