I stole hundreds of dollars in food from a Chinese Restaurant when I was a teenager

In the mid 90’s I was a teenager and my family was fairly poor. I was picked on at school for wearing hand me down clothes and not having new brand name anything. I started to resent my family a little for it. I felt poor and I looked poor. I remember getting free lunch at school, but we had to stand in line to get a special ticket instead of the paper ones everyone else got. It was embarrassing and my friends would make fun of me. <br><br>At some point in my resentment I got a job at a Chinese restaurant. I was a busser. My first day I was walking by one of the waitresses who was giving a man his change back and a twenty slipped out onto the floor. I saw her look around and then pocket the twenty. I didn’t say anything but realized shortly after that everyone did it. Stealing that is. Sometimes it was just taking food but the wait and waitress staff would often take a portion of tips with them. I remember the manager/owner telling us not to round our change up to the next dollar when giving people their change back. <br><br>One night when I was clearing plates I noticed a man and a woman had ordered a dish called the “happy family”. It was basically a dish with a mix of seafood, chicken, pork and beef in sauce on a platter that was supposed to be for 4 people. They were the only 2 at the table but they still ordered a happy family platter. I ended up bussing 3 happy family platters that night that were only ordered for two people and none of them ended up finishing the dishes. I got the idea that night that I should just finish their happy family dishes in the back. So I did. I ended up eating in the back that night and a few nights after. It was my first real Chinese food in a while and I remember being very happy. I no longer resented my family for being poor. <br><br>A few weeks went by and I started bringing large tupperware containers and filling them up with food and taking them home. I’d eat in the back and fill up containers and put them in the break room. At the end of my shift I’d bring them out to my car and take them home to eat. I would eat them for lunch at school the next day. <br><br>Eventually other employees found me eating and asked if they could join in. I had so much food each night that I could feed a few people. It seemed to give everyone a bit of a high at first. We were stealing from what we thought was a very wealthy Chinese family. We felt like Tom Sawyers or something. I remember one of the waitresses asked if she could take some food home and I said of course. The next day she brought in a tupperware full of fried rice but with chicken and vegetables in it. I asked where she got it and she said she made it with the leftovers but added her own chicken and vegetables. We all started doing that. One of the line cooks had a wife that was from Thailand and he said she made fried rice at home all the time. I would ask him for the leftovers of a dish and he’d throw in vegetables or meat. The food just kept getting better and better. <br><br>Eventually other employees found out and wanted in. Sometimes there would be 5 or six of us in the back eating and smoking weed. I’d fill up my large tubs with food at the end of the night and take them out to my car. I’d drive home and put them in the fridge. My family thought I was just bringing home leftovers but I was bringing home full meals of fried rice, lo mien and the happy family dish that averaged 5-7 pounds a night of Chinese food. <br><br>I’d take that much food home every night. My family started to notice that I was bringing home more food. My mom would call me at work and ask what I wanted for dinner and I’d tell her to just save me some leftovers. She started to say that she didn’t think they’d have any leftovers from dinner. This went on for almost 8 months. I gained 30 pounds and felt horrible. My health was terrible but I was eating my fill every night. The food was good and it was free so I didn’t care that I was stealing it. <br><br>I ended up moving away from the town and got a new job. I had a month of unemployment where I got to sleep in and didn’t have to hustle and bustle to go to work. I cut out all the Chinese food and started to feel a little better. One of my sisters ended up moving back to my hometown and said she had gone to the restaurant. She said one of the waitresses recognized her and when my sister asked what I was up to the waitress laughed and said that she should have seen me eat when I worked there. She said I took so much food that they thought they may have had a mouse problem because so much food was missing. <br><br>I feel bad that I stole food but I don’t really feel bad. The owners were fairly well off. They were from China and had come to the United States to open up the restaurant. They ended up opening up 2 more restaurants in the area and the cook opened up his own restaurant. So even though I stole a lot from them they all seemed to do well for themselves. I also have to remember that I was a teenager and poor. I was barely making minimum wage and didn’t have enough money to go out and buy food. So I stole it. <br><br>Edit: For anyone wondering, I don’t think the owners knew about the theft. The staff did a good job of working together and getting as much food as we could into our cars and out the door as fast as we could. We didn’t want anyone to get caught so we’d help each other sneak food out.