"So over the process of a couple of weeks, I carried it around the store and slowly picked off the price sticker, as I was certain it contained some kind of anti-theft material (it didn't). I would walk a careful path through the aisles with tall things so the cameras wouldn't see them (I later learned they were either broken or fake).
After about 20 minutes, I'd hide it behind merchandise somewhere, until I could come back in a couple of days to repeat the process and build up my courage to walk through the security scanners at the door. I made off with it the day before Mother's Day, hastily wrapped it, and the next day, presented it to my mom. She opened it, and while normally she wasn't a very showy or affectionate person, she absolutely BEAMED and raved about this wonderful thoughtful gift. I still remember the way my stomach dropped like a stone as I sat there with a fake smile, knowing I was now a criminal.
My mom then put the bear on proud display in the middle of the China cabinet. I had to walk by it every morning and night, hearing it hiss at me through the glass that I was a thief, a degenerate, unworthy of my mother's affection and seated upon a throne of lies. After three years, I couldn't take it anymore. I wedged open the glass and took the bear out, went into my backyard, and threw it hard as I could. It hit the neighbor's garage and smashed it into pieces.
My mom eventually moved the cabinet and got rid of the china a few years later, and never even noticed the bear was missing."
—l455ded38b