Today I saw a young girl like me get caught shoplifting

Today I saw a young girl like me walking out of the grocery store with a cart full of groceries and baby formula for her 2 year old baby. I saw her taking the groceries and thought “oh, there is another baby here, I can’t wait to meet her!”<br><br>I had my 1 year old baby in my arms and was scratching and picking my skin because I was so nervous about stealing my groceries. As a former addict, it’s very hard not to feel bad about telling my Homeless friend that we were going to steal because I was too scared to steal alone.<br><br>As we walked out, I heard the girl behind me start screaming and crying and flailing her arms. I walked faster but didn’t dare look back and the police came and took her away. <br><br>She was crying so loudly, and I felt so bad that I didn’t throw her some bread. I’m not even kidding, I felt like I was stealing for her and her baby too, even though she didn’t even know me.<br><br>Every time I leave a store with groceries I feel like I just robbed a bank. I have never felt more alive than I did today after stealing a cart full of groceries and diapers for my baby.<br><br>Anyway, just a little story about the way that I feel when I steal groceries. Very empowering, and yet I feel guilty because the system is wrong and I know that I am not the only one that has to do this.<br><br>Edit to add: I am not trying to sound like a baby killer, I was only trying to say that both me and the other lady were in similar shoes. A baby to feed and take care of on our own, and that we were both stealing for our babies.