My experience boosting

I was a thief for 2 years. I did it out of boredom and I was in a very low place in my life. I never got caught and I never got addicted. But I had some weird experiences. <br><br>I once boosted a full shelf of Dove gel body wash and the next day I got a message from a head hunter wanting to interview me for a full time position at Unilever. <br><br>I once got a call from the head of security at the store I was boosting from, asking if I could help him with a problem he was having. I was so confused until he said “I’m the head of security at the local supermarket and I’ve seen you around a lot. And I know you’re not actually a thief, so I thought maybe you could help me out. I’m a single dad and my son is in trouble at school and I don’t know how to help him.” <br><br>I was a kid once, I know how hard this shit can be. So I agreed to meet with him and hear him out. I hear he’s in trouble for stealing food. This kid doesn’t have anything. No phone, no computer, no video games, he’s not in any extracurriculars. He’s in the 7th grade and his dad is barely making ends meet. And he’s stealing food. I asked why he thought his son was stealing food and he answers that there’s just not enough. And I believe this man because I’ve been where he is. I was this kid. <br><br>I told him I used to steal food when I was a kid, and it’s not a way out. And it’s not going to help his son in the long run. He agreed and said he had tried everything to get his son to stop. And that was when I found my life’s purpose. <br><br>I got off the phone with him and I thought about it for a few days. I thought about the pretty girl I saw who was also a booster. About the kids I saw boosting electronics and I realized that a lot of us are doing it to provide for our families. <br><br>I’m a 25 year old woman with a degree in accounting and a good job at a great company. But as a kid, I had nothing. And I remember what it felt like to go to school hungry because I had to choose between lunch and dinner. Between breakfast and bus money. Between anything. <br><br>I decided to stop boosting and use that money I was spending on gas to instead get food to the kids who were stealing it. I asked around and found out about this pretty girl and her 3 kids. I learned their names and where they lived. And one day, I went to her house and I talked to her. <br><br>I pretty much told her my whole life story. She cried through most of it, but she listened. And I asked her why her kids were stealing food. She told me she couldn’t afford to feed them anymore. That after her and her husband broke up, she couldn’t make ends meet. She had a full time job, but she just couldn’t do it. <br><br>I offered her the rest of my money that day, which was almost $1,000 and she started crying more and she hugged me and she thanked me and she fed her kids with that money. And I felt good. <br><br>The next week, I went to the kid’s dads house and I fed his kid. All of it, out of pocket. And I paid for all 4 of these kids school meals with my own money. <br><br>2 weeks later, the head of security for all of the supermarket chains in my city called me and said he needed to talk to me. I gave him a meeting and he offered me a job. He said he wanted someone he could trust to run his finances. He said I was the only person he trusted. He said I had helped him and his son through a bad patch and he couldn’t thank me enough. <br><br>I’m currently the financial director for a chain of supermarkets in the US. And I couldn’t be happier. It’s the best job I’ve ever had. They pay me so well and I still get to feed these kids and send them money for groceries, and I couldn’t be more blessed. <br><br>I found my purpose.