Open Letter to a Shoplifter

To the Person who stole the above Bracelet from my Market Stall,

Did you really think about what you were doing when you took the bracelet, did you really know what it meant? You weren't stealing from some retail chain with faceless shareholders who can afford to write off the loss, not that stealing from large stores is right, its still illegal. No, you were stealing from me, from my pocket, you might just as well have stolen the money right out from my purse, and no, I don't have a big bank account that can afford to absorb the loss without noticing it.

Actually truth be told, saying it is as bad as stealing from my purse is not quite true, it is actually worse. Have you considered the time and effort that I put into designing and making that bracelet? Hasn't it occurred to you, that in common with many other designers and hand-crafters, I put my heart and soul into creating my pieces, they are all made with love. That is what you stole, a piece of my heart-felt creativity.

This bracelet was a one off design, it was special and it was meant to make the wearer feel special. Just how special do you think you can feel wearing it knowing that it was obtained illegally? I could of course recreate the design but it wouldn't be the same - it would no longer be a unique piece. I could no longer assure someone that they were obtaining a one-off.

Maybe of course, given the time of year it is, you have stolen the bracelet to give to someone else. That would be even worse. Do you really want to draw an innocent person into being complicit in your crime? Receiving and handling stolen pieces is just as illegal as stealing them. So where would be the joy in that type of giving?

So at the end of the day, you didn't steal just a bracelet, you stole a piece of me, and I can only hope that in doing so you lost a piece of yourself.