Look, us here at George Takei Enterprises (not our official name) in no way support or endorse the actions described below. It would be ethically wrong and potentially incriminating to say that any actions describe thereafter are acceptable or endorsed by us, or society as a whole.
Still, you do what you gotta do. Life is hard. Get what you can out of it, right?
Reddit user, IFeelSorry4UrMothers, wanted to know what to keep their sticky fingers ready for when they asked:
"What's okay to steal?"
The thing is, sometimes the thing you're supposedly "stealing" is not really being stolen, per say, in that if the people who knew you were taking it would file charges or anything.
Sometimes they just don't care.
Getting The Work Done No Matter What
"WiFi from the Jack in the Box by my house."
KittenPics
"Got through grad school leeching from an unsecured signal"
cavegoatlove
"My first apt in 2010 didn't have wifi and there was no way 19 year old me could afford it. Luckly back in the day most people didn't secure their wifi so I had ~8 options."
pokemonprofessor121
We're All Under One Together?
"Living over a decade in Japan, I've come to the conclusion that umbrellas are fair game."
PM_ME_ALL_UR_KARMA
"Take an umbrella, leave an umbrella"
AZBreezy
Take As Many Pacifiers As You Can. Trust Me.
"After giving birth, anything in the hospital room that’s not nailed down."
MamaRebbe
"Kid was in NICU for two weeks after birth. The nurses would give me a new pack of preemie diapers every time I used more than 2 or 3 from a pack of 20, same for those Similac nursettes that came in six packs. I swear I went home with hundreds of diapers and formula bottles. Bless them."
Palolo_Paniolo
"It gets thrown away when you leave so…take it!! Less work for us. Also, formula and diapers are given free to hospital to create new consumers for that brand. We hand them off like hot cakes to help families but also, to screw the mega corporations. We are like drug dealers getting you addicted to pampers or Huggies, lol!"Sol_Luna70
The Office Space Is Entirely Open For Grabs
"Honestly? Where my fellow corporate office supply kleptos?? Don’t lie…"
C-O-double-M
"When I was getting out of the Navy packing up to move. I found about 150 black "For Official Use Only" pens. I kept 10 and took the rest back to the shop."
EducatedEvil
I Mean, Yeah, Sure
"2nd, 3rd, or home in a baseball game."
ElGrandeRojo67
"Stealing 1st would look hilarious because you know the pitcher would just be standing there like "tf do I do?""
orionthehoonter
"You can if the catcher misses"
Zkenny13
"For those not as well versed as u/Zkenny13, if the pitcher throws strike three and the catcher doesn't catch it, the batter may attempt to "steal" first. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen."
"If it does happen, the pitcher is still credited with the strikeout, but it ruins any perfect game attempt."
DasPuggy
It's Build Into The Price
"I have few,"
"Soda from McDonald, ask for water (free) and drain it or drink it and pour soda on it"
"Napkins from any restaurant"
"Ketchup"
"Plastic spoon and fork"
AllenProduction
That Ol' Moral Quandry
"Food. I feel like if someone is desperate enough to steal food they really need it."
DonAskren
"Sanitary products, diapers, baby food. If you ever see a poor-looking/homeless person stealing these expensive necessities, please do not report them to the store manager. These are essentials, most of which happen to be expensive. And if it’s baby-related, don’t report it for the sake of the baby :/"
Ligma_ballz973
It's "The Code," Apparently
"I’m a young female and one “ girl rule “ I would say is common to know is if you see a woman steeling period products( such as pads or tampons ) or baby products like milk or diapers, you do not say a word. You don’t know if that might be a mother who can’t care for her child because of financial problems or mental health. It could be a woman who can’t afford menstrual products. Even if it’s neither of these you never know a person’s situation and it’s better to stay silent."
Cheesefan1
Weird Some Places Put Laws On This
"Trash. It was thrown away, so no one needs it anymore. Stealing trash is actually illegal in my home country, Germany."
DartmitBart
The information super highway is a glorious thing, allowing you access to a myriad of products with a click of the 'Purchase' button...
...most of the time.
Where All My College Students At?
"Academic papers and textbooks. The actual authors don't see a cent of it, it all goes to the publisher who gets to charge like 40 bucks to read it once. Oh and also in order to submit to those journals, you have to pay for it."
Inkuii
"Definitely don't ever type "sci-hub.se" into your browser of you're looking for access to a paper. It certainly doesn't have a database of pirated journal articles, or really practically anything with a DOI..."
"ETA: you also definitely can't download the file as a PDF. And clicking the source on the left side will NOT copy the citation to your clipboard. And it's absolutely NOT mirrored at sci-hub.st or sci-hub.ru if your ISP blocks it........."
Lestalia
"For academic articles, if you email the authors they'll almost always send you their paper for free and be really happy about it too"
fluffytedy54
Higher Learning Should Never Be That Much
"E-Textbooks"
-ImpliedConsent
"Pearsons can go f* themselves."
lorenzomofo
"YES. The online textbook viewer is awful too."
"Once I had to buy a $230 Pearson math textbook, I hated it, and it had multiple wrong answers in the practice question answer key... I returned it 2 weeks later and just found a pdf online"
Taco_Guy3
Up, Up, Down, Down
"Old Nintendo games. If they refuse to maintain their old game systems then there's nothing wrong with emulating them."
User Deleted
"Yeah if you can't even buy a game anymore, there is no ethical argument against pirating."
"Technically you can track down an old physical copy, but at that point you're only benefiting some reseller, not the people who actually own the rights to the game."
itsamamaluigi
When You Absolutely Have To Edit A Picture
"Adobe products"
dansla116
"I’m still using a copy of Photoshop 6 that fell off a truck back in 2000."
mandobaxter
"I’m in my 40’s and pirated my fair share of adobe products over the years. A few weeks ago my teenager was trying to find an old pc game on steam etc. and couldn’t even find a way to buy it. I showed him how to sail the high seas and find it. Today he came to me and said “dad, I found cracked adobe premiere and got it to work”. Don’t think I’ve ever been prouder"
Trill_McNeal
This "Stealing" Is Certainly A Lifestyle Choice
"i think its okay to steal anything. the punishment you get for stealing shouldnt be because you stole. i think it should be because you got caught. think about it, if you steal a twix bar no one is harmed by it. there are millions more being made and thousands more at stores. as long as you dont get caught stealing or harming anyone, ANYTHING is okay to steal."
waq_lol
Just a reminder: The law is there for a reason.
But, you know, be smart about it.
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Reopening schools in the era of the virus is an absolute mess.
Sure, administering lessons via video sharing is not ideal. Attention wavers even more than usual, teachers are burdened by the Goliath task of adapting lesson plans to the platform, and parents are forced to work from home while also acting as a psuedo teacher's aid.
But a recent Reddit thread makes one thing clear: many teachers would rather stick with those difficulties than go back to school prematurely. The countless dangerous factors are enough to make their--and our--heads spin.
Teachers who actually do the work can she light on the nitty gritty of the reopening animal. Logistical pitfalls that teachers have learned over the years allow them to predict where the issues would arise. Their responses on the thread paint a nuanced, scary picture.
makeshift_permanence asked, "Teachers of Reddit, how are you feeling about doing in-person classes right now?"
Racing Thoughts
"What happens if I contract COVID? Do I need to have two weeks of lessons prepared for a substitute at all times? Can there possibly be enough substitute teaching candidates out there to fill all the gaps left by COVID diagnoses or suspected COVID diagnoses (or contact with COVID)?"
"Substitutes already do not make a living wage for their work (or if they do, it's barely so); I can't imagine they're going to be more enthusiastic about going to schools under these circumstances."
"Bathroom breaks/tissue/drinks. Kids are kind of gross already. To maintain top flight cleanliness and social distancing, I feel an inordinate amount of class time will be devoted to routines."
"I envision super long bathroom breaks so everyone has a chance to have the bathroom to themselves. Time out of every hour to clean or wipe down laptops, manipulatives, desks, etc."
"We already spend a lot of time on routines (pre-COVID) so doubling down makes me wonder exactly how much time will be left to actually try to teach."
"What happens under a worst case scenario situation? Our student body has a lot of grandparents standing in as primary guardians. What happens if a student contracts COVID at school and takes it home to their advanced age primary caretaker?"
"Is our small community prepared to take responsibility for the preventable death of a student's primary guardian?"
-- rake2204
The Damage is Done, and More Will Come Either Way
"In the UK (English) Secondary Schools are are due back in full in September with no expectations of social distancing and very little guidance for risk assessment. I work in the worst affected borough of London where huge numbers of our kids have lost family members."
"Over 50% of kids live in poverty, we have the highest levels of gang crime, radicalisation, child abuse, and neglect, and only around 5 - 10% of kids in classes have had access to internet for remote learning since we went into lockdown in March."
"Many I haven't heard from at all. Social services and child protective services are already overwhelmed."
"I am worried for myself and my colleagues as we enter precarious working conditions. But mostly I worry for the kids and their community. We cannot go back to normal and many will be deeply traumatised."
"When I try to talk about how anxious I feel, nobody in my family or friendship group understands, they just tell me to stop worrying and enjoy my summer break."
-- pinjooo
Sorting Out Priorities
"College professor here. I really miss the wonderful classroom dynamics that in-person learning makes possible. Online learning makes discussions more strained and shallow. I also really love working with my students and discussing their projects one-on-one."
"That is much harder to do remotely. However, I care about my students as people, and the thought of making them and their families sick by returning to campus too soon makes me very worried. I want them to get a good education, but not at the expense of their health and well being."
"I would rather work twice as hard to make online learning successful than risk them getting sick or losing parents and grandparents to this illness."
Harrowing Circumstances for Data Collection
"Our start date got pushed back 2 weeks, then it's 9 weeks online. that buys 11 weeks to figure out the smart thing to do next. there will be plenty of data from the schools that are pushed to open sooner."
"Can someone explain why the white house isn't doing mask-optional public tours if schools are being pushed to open?"
-- cesarjulius
Ground Zero
"I'm terrified. I work at a high school in Texas. Last year my largest class had 36 students. Between kids not having school supplies, passing in the hallways, gym, sports, discipline, & teenage hormones I know for a FACT that social distancing & keeping things clean can't work."
"If full grown adults refuse to wear a mask then imagine 1000s of teenagers. Our school has a daycare too, with babies. It's too risky & it's unfair to ask us to risk not only our lives but the lives of our students. This is not a hoax."
"There is no getting back to normal. We either have to accept it or risk certain death. I am not exaggerating with any of this."
-- BlkMsFrizzle
The Elephant in the Room
"Tbh, I'm terrified to go back and I've been dealing with a lot of anxiety around the pandemic this whole time."
"The thought of going back to college where the students are going to continue throwing huge parties and not giving a sh**, and then coming to class to infect everyone else absolutely freaks me out."
-- ZOSOtelecast
Heroes, Within Reason
"I am a school librarian at an elementary school with 900 students. I am young. I have no children. I am healthy."
I am f***ing terrified."
"I may love being a 'hero' to your kids, but I did not sign up to be an actual 'knowingly lay down your life' hero. The fact that so many are urging us to go back to 'protect the economy' shows just how f***ed this whole system is."
"Staying home is absolutely causing trauma for everyone, staff and students. But will it cause more trauma when their teacher, principal, para, custodian, dies? Not to mention their grandma or aunt or parents or classmate."
"'Only .2% of kids will die'" Devos touts. In my district, that means 4. 4 student deaths in a district of five schools. Not to mention the teachers or family members."
"I am f***ing terrified."
-- spoonugget
Rock and a Hard Place
"I'm an elementary music teacher. My job is to have kids sing, play games in the room with others, play instruments, and learn how to be good human beings. I see every single kid in the school."
"I am so fearful."
"My entire class is pretty much upended by in person classes. They can't sing because obviously, they can't play instruments (percussion/string) because they'd have to share the instruments with each other."
"We can't play games because the games are meant to encourage playing an instrument or singing a song, and also include group/partner work."
"And if they expect me to do that anyways, then I'm not comfortable with that in the slightest."
-- Zenku390
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People are who they are... but some can change. Those troubled youths who made life miserable for many in the adolescent years can take a turn for the better.. or the worse. Not all "problem children" stay problem children, some go on to find inner peace and meaning and others become stars on episodes of "Dateline NBC." Its all a gamble. Fr everybody. No one is perfect.
Redditor 11simon18 wanted to hear about the growth or disaster of the students who caused the most chaos by asking....
What happened to your school "bad boy/girl"?
"bad boy"
GiphyHe wasn't the quintessential "bad boy" but did drugs, drank, got arrested for drugs, total partier.
Always nice to me and we were friendly but that whole scene just wasn't my thing.
That was 1981 and up until 2013 wondered whatever happened to him.
Found out my daughter's new boyfriend was his son!!
I was very relieved to find out that shortly after high school he realized he was going nowhere fast, cleaned himself up and started a successful business.
Thrilled to say that my husband and I share 2 beautiful grandchildren with he and his wife and I couldn't be more happy about it! uuendyjo
At 30....
School "bad boy" when I was there was my older brother. (Drug dealer, played in a metal band, general smarty pants and moron.) He flunked out of college after two semesters and has been waiting tables since then. He turns 30 this year, and the girl he's dating now is the first one who's stayed with him for more than six months.
She's super cool, actually, but like 5 years younger than him. They have a couple dogs, smoke a lot of weed, and play a lot of DND.
Last I heard from him, he was escalating a feud with his neighbor by putting a plate and a half worth of loose, cooked spaghetti in her mailbox. Sethrial
At Gun Point....
The one that comes to mind forced his ex at gun point into his car and then drove to another state. Cops eventually caught up with them and then he shot himself in the car. I feel really bad for the girl. CuppaSunPls
Will?
GiphyThat was me. I went to live with my uncle, he spent about 5 years intensively working with me and now I'm good. Nice guy. I still live near him and call him 'dad'. Will buy him beer. throwawaysmetoo
Gothed.
She was a bit of a goth. Smoked in front of the school. Smoked pot behind the gym. Graduated valedictorian, went to Stanford on a full ride scholarship. sternje
I don't think being goth and smoking cigarettes and pot make her a bad girl, that just seems like an awkward teenager trying to find their style while doing the same things that most teenagers experiment with.
By the way, our school also had a goth girl, all black everyday except the neon green streak in her hair, smoked a lot of cigarettes and graduated with a 4.0+ GPA. wkndgolfer
God has a Way....
GiphyNot sure how this happened, but there were 3 "bad boys" on our football team, all players and all very good looking. They cussed, drank, smoked all the time, and were constantly getting laid (or at least telling everyone they were).
Right around senior year/college they each went through some change and are all now born again Christians. No partying, less cussing, and none of them talk about women in an objectifying way. It's great but kinda unnerving in a way. slothbarns7
Roundabouts only go one way.
Two died of opioid overdoses and the third died in a front end collision while doing donuts in a roundabout. MrCoffeeNerves
A front end collision into what? Roundabouts only go one way. And getting into a lethal accident with any vehicle entering it or attempting to enter it is kind of extremely difficult to do. Private_Colceri
Better Now....
I was the bad girl, I was very academically gifted, but had a bad home life, so I smoked (cigarettes & weed), drank a fair bit of vodka, basically did everything I could to rebel against authority, I once threw a jar of blood on the principal (animal blood, long story).
Ended up getting kicked out, spent two years on the streets with a bad drug habit & surviving through sex work. Had a massive OD turned my life around, worked in transport/ logistics.
Now at 30 I'm at university, studying computer science/ engineering. I'll be 34 when I graduate. Dyingforsomelove
Fires Everywhere.....
GiphyNot quite the bad boy, actually everyone thought he was "Goody Two-Shoes..." Turns out he had some of the worst grades in school, was a serial arsonist, and when he was caught attempted suicide. Haven't heard from him since but he made the news with one of his fires. :/ kerouacdesbois
Which one?
Which one? One became a serial killer. My wife dated him before all that. One's doing life for a contract killing. Three are dead, they were bangers. Two are in mental wards. I was a hood, banger back in the late 80's early 90's. Grew up in New Mexico.
There were very few of us that became productive members of society. I got caught for B&E. Judge gave me a choice. Jail or Job Corps. I took the latter. Met my wife shortly after. And she taught me what it means to be a real man, father, human being. IAmTeaBag4
Egg it...
GiphyHe's an eggplant farmer. Literally. AbsurdBird_
Definitely a quiet lifestyle, I can respect it. Quibilia
Taco Bell Sorry...
My biggest bully in middle/high school ended up going to prison. Funny thing though, my mom worked in that prison, and they got to know each other. When he got out, he found me and apologized. He later got a job at a local Taco Bell, and whenever I came in he would always add a bunch of free stuff to my order.
I haven't seen him in almost 2 decades, but I know he became a dad. I actually hope he's doing well.
Edit: Just looked him up. Had 3 kids, a wife, and is a contractor now. I'm glad he turned it around.
Edit 2: wow. Just checked in on this a day later, and my comment blew up. Glad this made some days. chroniclesofthenerds
Bad 2 the Bone.....
Bad girl - 3 kids, 2 of which happened in school... seems happy, never left the hometown.
Bad boy, appears he now works constructions and is on the fairly straight and narrow nowhere near where we grew up. jaycutlersattitude
Not So Sexy.....
GiphyLots of meth.
She posts photos of her newborn boy & calls him her 'sexy little man." cassycakesokc
When people call babies "sexy" it makes me want to barf on them. It's so gross. archivesgrrl
Sad Tales.
Drugs, drugs and brain damage.
In middle school there were these twins who were both really cool. They had a band (one did drums while the other sang and played guitar), skated, occasionally got in trouble with the law but for really small things.
A few months ago I was taking a bus when I saw them get on. They were clearly homeless and one of them kept whining to the other that he needed his fix. He passed out and his brother half heartedly puked into his hand. Eventually the bus driver saw one of them (I shit you not) strip down to his boxers to get some non puke stained clothes on and told them to get the off the bus. Told my folks about seeing the twins, apparently they've been in and out of jail for years.
Other guy I did karate with in middle and high school and was a sweet guy who had a bit of a temper and was a bit of a troublemaker. I saw him on the streets, we were both in our mid 20s but he looked like he was pushing 40. He talked slow, one side of his face trooped even when he smiled and he walked with a limp. I later found out that he was an on and off heroin addict and had been in enough fights that he was permanently brain damaged. komnenos
"massages"
I'm fairly certain one of the prominent and popular bad girls at my school ended up as a prostitute. A few years after graduation she kept posting about how people should come get "massages" at this sketchy spa she worked at downtown. She also kept posting about her modeling career, but all the photos were behind a pretty steep paywall, so I'm pretty sure that was porn. Anyway, I read in the news one day that this spa she worked at was raided by the cops and the owner was arrested for running a prostitution ring. She suddenly stopped posting after that. ApatheticAasimar
Get Help...
Alcoholic, missing most (all?) his teeth, usually in between jobs in either lawn service or pest control, has custody of his kids cause he's the "good" parent.
She's dead. OD right out of high school. nrfx
The Odds are bad.....
It's funny, in some aspect just about every classmate of mine was a "bad" kid. Many went on to college or have kids, but many others have struggled. Out of 55, 12 have died. We graduated high school 6 years ago. IndiaSixty
2 Bad Boys...
Two bad boys, both brothers, a few years apart.
The younger one started some sort of legitimate business (think Roy from the Office) and seems to be doing extremely well.
The oldest is literally homeless and constantly begging for money on Facebook. It's really sad. TaterTotCasseroll
Dreams Come True.
GiphyHe moved to California and became an ad film director. His Instagram stream regularly contains pics of him posing with topless models, celebs and fancy cars and bikes. He also has a boat.
So, he's living up to his childhood image, I say. RamnathCovid-19