Have you ever stolen a book?

[Argon9]

A couple of books from school. My old books math, biology, home economics and psychology.

I wanted them, didn't want to return them after finishing them.

 

 

I wanted to keep mine too but one of my much more honest friends made me give them back.

[emelee]

I wanted to keep mine too but one of my much more honest friends made me give them back.

 

Party pooper!!

I didn't care if the school lost some books. Technically is IS stealing, but whatever! Who doesn't take pencils they find or use somewhere? Who never takes anything from their hotel rooms when they leave? Who has never taken anything from your workplace, like pencils?

BTW: Who ever buys pencils??? Seems like you collect them by stealing them, or get commercial pencils for free?

Some things are just EXPECTED. That's why it's not considered a crime to take certain things from certain places.

[Argon9]

Party pooper!!

I didn't care if the school lost some books. Technically is IS stealing, but whatever! Who doesn't take pencils they find or use somewhere? Who never takes anything from their hotel rooms when they leave? Who has never taken anything from your workplace, like pencils?

BTW: Who ever buys pencils??? Seems like you collect them by stealing them, or get commercial pencils for free?

Some things are just EXPECTED. That's why it's not considered a crime to take certain things from certain places.

 

Oh well, I did keep my graphic calculator. I did not tell said friend about that one. The school was planning to donate the damaged ones and mine has a small crack low in the screen. They cost 80 bucks when new so I kept mine. Turned out to be the most expensive and most useful thing I've ever taken. The old blue beasty has dragged me through many an exam because its so easy reprogrammable

 

I always take my pencils from commercial stands. They hand them out, I take them, and then proceed with asking them hard to answer questions. They are so common at the university that I have over a 300 pens and pencils by now and I think I should stop taking them with me.

 

I never steal pencils and other supplies who come in small stock or from other students. Someone stole my -rather expensive- copic markers once and I've been quite cross about that since I cant afford a new set. I imagine that other student wont like it much if I steal from them either.

[Michelle]

Party pooper!!

I didn't care if the school lost some books. Technically is IS stealing, but whatever! Who doesn't take pencils they find or use somewhere? Who never takes anything from their hotel rooms when they leave? Who has never taken anything from your workplace, like pencils?

BTW: Who ever buys pencils??? Seems like you collect them by stealing them, or get commercial pencils for free?

Some things are just EXPECTED. That's why it's not considered a crime to take certain things from certain places.

 

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your sentiments - if you steal a book from a school or college, they then have to replace those books out of their budget, instead of doing something else with the money.

 

Who buys pencils? Well I do for one! I also take my own pens into work, as they don't supply them.

 

In my eyes, stealing is stealing, and I really don't think it's expected anywhere!

[Nollaig]

I get stationary and pens and things supplied at work, but I still bring my own supplies in! The other girls in the office laugh at me but I just like using my own things! I too buy pencils, of differing hardness and softness because I use them for different things! I think there's a difference between accidentally taking something because you genuinely didn't realise you were still in possession of it (pens, library books etc) and assuming you have the right to take things just because everyone does and/or you won't get caught/in trouble for it. I don't tend to take things from hotel rooms, unless it's stuff that was provided for me (e.g. if there's a nice small bottle of shampoo in my room, I'll use it and take what's left home, if anything. There's usually nothing left ). I might also take a sheet of note paper with their logo on or something as a souvenier (in one hotel in Northern Ireland I took a paper placemat thingy with a gorgeous logo/picture on it, it was slightly torn from me using it and would have been binned anyway).

[frankie]

Unfortunately over here the schools are hard up as it is and if the government decides to cut back on budgets, schools are one of the first places that have to make cut backs. So I personally would never want to add to that harm by stealing something from schools.

 

And it's not like schools are a multinational huge corporation aiming to make money. The tax payers are the ones who pay for the educational system.

 

Edit: I'm not sure, but I expect Sweden has the same system as Finland: all education is free and people don't have to pay even for uni education. So I personally think it's rather ungrateful to pay them back by stealing...

 

I do what Noll does: I take home with me the rest of the shampoo bottles if I've used them. There's no way the hotel would use them ever again, they always have new mini bottles for the new guests, and the one I've used and am taking the rest home with is covered by my hotel bill so I think that's a totally different thing.

[Kell]

I'm one of those who believe stealing is stealing no matter where or who it's from. If it is not mine, I do not have a right to take it without paying for it.

 

Like others, I will happily take the part used bottle of shampoo/conditioner/shower gel from my hotel room as they put new ones in each time, and I know that from time to time I've ended up with a pen and not known where I've picked it up. But like Noll, I like my own stationery - I like pretty pens and pencils and even when working in an office that supplied stationery for colleague use, I always brought in my own because they were nicer to use. And everyone always knew they were mine because I'd find the most outlandish looking pens possible - LOL!

 

When my Dad was moving house, we cleared out his loft, and among the boxes of books I found several school library books in there. I felt so guilty about it that I actually dropped them off back at the school and apologised for how long they'd been gone (we're talking about 15 years after I left school here!). The librarian laughed so hard she nearly fell off her chair - LOL! I now actually donate my used books to my old school library as they haven't had a new acquisitions budget for about 5 years, which sucks!

 

As for stealing from shops, I once accidentally walked out of HMV with a copy of NME tucked under my arm. My friend had been buying loads of things and handed that to me to keep hold of for her - we forgot to pay for it with the other stuff and it wasn't till we were half way down the street that I realised and was so embarrassed I couldn't bring myself to go back! I also once forgot to pay for a lipstick in Boots - again, a case of holding onto loads of things and forgetting I had it in my hand.

 

I could never purposely take something that wasn't mine - I'd feel way too guilty and would hate for someone to take something from me! When we moved into our 2nd flat, we got burgled when we'd only been there about a week. they didn't take much (some change, a couple of DVDs and a phone charger), but the feeling of personal violation was horrid - made worse by the fact that they actually ate our biscuits!!! I would never want to make anyone feel that way, whether it was a person or a business, large or small!

 

Even if it's only a small item of little worth, stealing is always a crime - and not a victimless crime like many seem to think!

[Argon9]

Meh, I don't steal, more out of a believe that its not worth it and I can get by with what I have then out of any more moral reasons. I guess that embarrassing myself over 40sek feels a bit dumb. I get, however, wrongly accused of stealing so immensely often that I begin to wonder why I don't to it. I never take the shampoos from hotels either. Many bottles are refilled if they are not taken and handed out again. At least, they were at the hotels I worked at.

 

The Calculators where handed to us in the first year and we where expected to hand them back after our study was done 3 years later. Damaged ones were to be thrown out -donated, but no one knew to whom or what- and they only took them in to prevent other students from damaging theirs so they could keep them too. I later learned that they had thrown them all out that year and stepped over to a new model. So I guess thats a bit in the grey scales of stealing since no harm was done and no one got poorer on it. Its a bit like getting something out of a skip. Its technically against the law and according to that law its stealing. Still, I have survived on discarded food from supermarket skips for some time and I sure as hell don't feel any remorse for that.

[Maedeh]

I never have stolen any books,but one night I dreamed that I want to stolen a lot of books from the library but I couldn't.I won't do it at all!

[Argon9]

I never have stolen any books,but one night I dreamed that I want to stolen a lot of books from the library but I couldn't.I won't do it at all!

 

You have never taken anything by accident either?

[Radical]

Some book from the school library. So hardcore

[Maedeh]

You have never taken anything by accident either?

No I haven't.Not accidentally or on purpose

[Weave]

I stole a copy of 'Black Beauty' by Anna Sewell when I was about 8, I was in hospital at the time and no doubt, it was my mini revenge because I was fed up being in hospital.

[emelee]

Edit: I'm not sure, but I expect Sweden has the same system as Finland: all education is free and people don't have to pay even for uni education. So I personally think it's rather ungrateful to pay them back by stealing...

But at the university, you don't get books or pens or anything. You have to bring everything yourself. So therefore, you cannot steal anything even if you wanted. Problem solved. And you get fined if you don't return a library book on time.

Also, back in high school and earlier, you got pens for free (at least in Sweden) as well as notebooks and some other books. So that wasn't stealing either.

 

There is a HUGE difference between taking pens for stands where they have a bunch of pens with their logos, and taking pens that you know belong to someone else. Most of my pens come from these stands wher it is perfectly okay to take a pen. I even ask if I can take a pen most of the time and they say "of course!" -- that is what they are there for. They often also has a bowl of candy and other stuff that they hand out to people who want some.

 

The union comes to the university a couple to times every month with books that you can buy, or join the union if you want etc etc. I am a union member, so they often let me take calendars, pens, candy etc. Like "you already paid to join the union, so take some of these stuff!"

[frankie]

But at the university, you don't get books or pens or anything. You have to bring everything yourself. So therefore, you cannot steal anything even if you wanted. Problem solved. And you get fined if you don't return a library book on time.

Also, back in high school and earlier, you got pens for free (at least in Sweden) as well as notebooks and some other books. So that wasn't stealing either.

 

I'm sorry but I cannot see the connection between this post and mine. Why should we get all the books and pens for free at the university, when we are already given a free education? The costs of the books do not cost nearly as much as the uni fees in other countries. And most of the books are found in libraries and one can just borrow them for free.

 

Of course you get a fine if you don't return a library book on time. That rule, I believe, is in force all over the world. Why should we be excluded.

 

The note books and pens that are given for free, do not constitute stealing, on that we agree. But that's not what you were originally posting about. I believe you were posting about books that the schools were expecting the students to return back. That is a totally different matter. We also weren't originally talking about free pens at stands, the commercial ones where they want you to take a pen or two.

[emelee]

How is the education FREE? My student loans are HUGE, and I still have one year left. Instead of paying before the education is given, we pay for it afterwards. Nothing is free - ever. The money always circles around. The loan plus interest gets paid back to the state who lend out the money in the first place. The interest is the cost of the education. And you spend a number of years studying so that you have to work if you want to make your own money on your sparetime, aside from the 40h/week you study. So it's either living with your parents or partner and have them pay for you, or take a huge loan. The taxes in Sweden are huge, so the state makes big money from interests.

The reason why schools don't get money is because the cities tend to spend money on everything BUT school and health care! Just look at the lousy salaries and budget costs --- and compare to the other junk they invest money in.

 

The library fee I mentioned only because it's impossible to steal a book from the library without having to pay for it. Library books are the only books around the university. So therefore, you cannot steal any books from the university, only from grade school.

 

Yes, it is stealing if you do not return a book that you have borrowed and is expected to return. I have never said otherwise. My answer to the topic questions is yes. I have stolen a book. But I do not have a bad conscious for it. I do not think it is a big fellony. That is my opinion. My friends stole some books too. None of us thought twice about it. We were KIDS. I did lots of stupid things as a kid that I would not to today.

[vinay87]

I used to be such a huge "bibliokleptomaniac" that the nearest bookstore set up surveillance cameras to stop me. I think I stole around 30 books as a kid. Not something I'm proud of, I couldn't afford books and my local library was too small to feed my appetite. I've given away most of those books, and became that shop's best customer. I stopped going there once the shopkeeper who watched me grow and didn't know I was his culprit resigned for better pastures.

[frankie]

How is the education FREE?

 

It is free in the way that you don't pay massive amounts of money per semester to the uni, like for example in the UK.

 

Over here you get a certain amount of money per month to live on, and some people actually manage to live on that. Some people don't and they have to borrow student money from the bank to make ends meet. But that money usually goes towards buying groceries and all sorts of other necessities. I've never heard of anyone who would've had to use that money on uni books only. If one doesn't want to borrow money, one can work during the weekends, for example. I'm sure there are people in the UK who do this in order to pay for the semester they're doing.

 

The library fee I mentioned only because it's impossible to steal a book from the library without having to pay for it. Library books are the only books around the university. So therefore, you cannot steal any books from the university, only from grade school.

 

I don't really care if a person steals from the uni or grade school, it's still stealing.

[emelee]

The money I get for studying that I don't have to pay back doesn't even pay half my rent. Student apartments are extremely expensive. Let's compare: My parents rent is 6500 kronor/month. My rent is 5400 kronor/month (student apartment). And my apartment is not even HALF as big as their apartment is. And no, I do not live in a posh neighbourhood or anything. I live in the huge student area near the university. In Stockholm I wouldn't even get half the size of my apartment for that price.

 

Then lets count what books cost. I have an avarage of about 11-12 books to buy or rent each term. If I were to buy all those books, they would cost about 200-300 kronor per book, minimum. Never seen a course book cost less than 200 unless you are lucky to buy from an old student, which is like never. So lets say one book is 250. Multiply with 11. That is 2750 kronor. For a whole year, that is 5500 kronor.

Then of course I have to have food and bus money etc. Plus bills for my phone, internet, insurance, TV-licence etc.

 

So unless I lived with my parents at age 28 and had to travel 3 hours each day front/back to school, I seriously need that loan.

 

 

But what I really do not get is why people in general complain about (in this case) a little book stealing from school when there are far worse crimes committed that no one cares about. And I am talking about the leaders of the country and cities!!!! If they get fired, they get money so they are set for life as a compensation for NOT doing their jobs. And their salaries are just crazy. And they make sure they can eat at the best restaurants, stay at the best hotels etc etc etc in the name of work.

 

THEY take more from me as a tax payer, then I take by stealing one old book from school as a kid! But we little people are the crooks! That is just laughable IMO.

 

Same with the city councils. Don't think for a moment that they don't use opportunities to get something for themselves. In Sweden at least, they mostly spend money on less important things instead of health care and schools that IMO is far far more important. Then they just shut down certain parts of hospitals to center everything in the biggest cities. For example; my dad has to travel by bus 5,5 hours tomorrow for an eye examination because they no longer have that expertice here. Then after a 30 minute examination, it's back 5,5 hours on the bus. All because the city councils have decided other things are more important than health care.

 

So before anyone point fingers and call others thieves, look at the big picture, please! I will not apologize for stealing any book when I was a kid.

[chesilbeach]

I'm not passing judgement on anyone, but I came across these lines in Hy Brasil the book I'm currently reading, which seem quite apt for this discussion:

 

We had a stupid argument after supper. It began because we were talking about library books, of all things. He said it was far more important to return books to a library than not to steal money, because everyone has a right to access to books, and it's a serious crime to take away knowledge that should be held in common.

[emelee]

I was very curious to hear what my friends thought of the matter, so I asked on Facebook if they thought taking a book or pen or whatever from school that you were not allowed to take, how wrong is that?

Either I have criminal friends or we Swedes are quite liberal, because none of my friends who replied (so far) thought it was any big deal at all.

 

One of my most honest sweet friends, age 38, a teacher and mother of two boys in grade school said that if schools were closed down because of pupils taking pens, erasers, books etc - then we would not have many schools left in Sweden. :lol:

 

Another said that if it was criminal, he'd be serving a long jail sentence for all things he has taken.

 

My father takes stuff he needs from his job. Nothing major. Small cheap supply stuff.

 

 

---> So I don't know if I come from a whole other culture here!!!!!! :blink: It is just not any big deal.

[frankie]

But what I really do not get is why people in general complain about (in this case) a little book stealing from school when there are far worse crimes committed that no one cares about. And I am talking about the leaders of the country and cities!!!! If they get fired, they get money so they are set for life as a compensation for NOT doing their jobs. And their salaries are just crazy. And they make sure they can eat at the best restaurants, stay at the best hotels etc etc etc in the name of work.

 

The reason I'm 'complaining' about people stealing books in this thread, instead of other crimes, is because this thread is about stealing books. Other crimes are/can be dealth with in other threads.

 

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on the whole matter

[emelee]

Absolutely. Cause I do not see what the big problem is, as long as you don't steal a whole bunch of books. To me it is such a petty little thing. Compared to the Swedish Security Police who recently had a personnel party for 5 million of tax payers money...... (in the news today)

There is just no way I could ever look down on anyone keeping a little book and that's me.

[Argon9]

I am not very bothered by it either actually but we get so much free commercial stuff from big companies who try to get the students on their side that I never have to buy pens or notebooks. Lab-coats, vinyl gloves, safety glasses, molecular sets, student security, door passes, laptops (all mandatory depending on what you study. I've had to buy all of those) and everything else we do have to buy makes being a student rather costly. Schoolbooks are really expensive too but are always ordered online so if someone steals those its stealing from a student, not from the school.

 

And yes, the uni is free in Sweden but my "bidrag" does not cover my rent at all. I share a 12 squire meter room with my brother at the moment and find a lot of my food at night, in supermarket skips because I cannot pay for rent and food at the same time. The "find a job" thing is also a bit overrated. Of course I want a weekend job, and with me 10 000 other students in the same city. Its not like they are just there for the taking. I make ends meet through working my ass off in summer vacations (I had 4 jobs this year) and being very careful with my money the rest of the year. I'm one of the few without a student loan, living on just under 2700kr (320 dollar, 220 pounds (??)) a month.

 

I don't steal out of principle (and being a wimp) but if someone takes a few extra loafs of bread from the cafeteria or a notebook from the magazine I won't hate them for it. Particularly if they are just as me trying to make ends meet. (those breads are overpriced anyway. The school charges even for warm water) Stealing for the kick of it is totally wrong though, books or otherwise. I have, however, downloaded a few pirated PDF's of my student literature to keep the costs down. I suppose that is stealing too, in a way. Though I cannot say that I feel very sorry for that.

[emelee]

^^^ The university takes RIDICULOUS prices for coffee and food. One cup of coffee in the nearest cafeteria at the building I'm always in cost 12 kronor. (Almost 2 dollars). And let's just say my coffee mug at home is bigger.

In 2008 when I began my studies there, the same cup of coffee cost only 7 kronor. So over the past 4 years, the price of coffee/tea has gone up 40%. They are ROBBING US BLIND!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the city recently increased the bus tickets with 20%.

 

I could be so weeed with this, but I have no energy to bother.