Proletariat’s $155 belt?!?!?

So about a year ago some kids started shopping at Proletariat. They were all into skateboarding and were super nice 10-year-olds. Every Saturday morning they would be waiting patiently at the shop when I rolled in 15 minutes late with a hangover. They would carefully pick out a skate part, sometimes new trucks or a deck, other times a re-grip and a stencil. I would hook them up with free Amps and spend way too much time trying to salvage old rusty parts or chewed up axle threads if they were low on cash. I really enjoyed these kids because they reminded me of my friends when I was growing up. One day they showed up with a new kid. For anonymity’s sake we will call him Danny. Danny was obviously living a rough life. Danny’s dad is in the Army and is never home and Danny seemed to be heading down the path of being a dick. Well, after a while of coming in week after week, Danny decided he really wanted a Proletariat belt but Danny didn’t have any ca$hola. So Danny decided he would just steal the belt. It didn’t matter that I gave him my old skate deck when his was broken. It didn’t matter that I hand cut stencils for his grip tape for free. It didn’t matter that I gave him free drinks for weeks. Danny stole from me and I got it on camera. I have been waiting for Danny to come back for months. I told his friends to let him know I knew what he did and all he had to do was bring back the belt and apologize and we were cool. So, I guess he didn’t get the message because Danny waltzed into the shop yesterday like nothing happened. I barely recognized him because enough time passed that he had actually grown quite a bit. He said what up, and I asked if I could see his skateboard. He was like sure and I said, thanks man, it’s mine now. He was like what? And I explained to him that he stole from me so I was stealing from him and he had two options. Call his mother and tell her what he did, or give me his $155 skateboard. Well, here’s my new ride…

You know, I’m not gonna judge you if you decide to steal. Many of my friends do, and they know I don’t, but we are still cool. But I will tell you this – if you don’t think there aren’t consequences to your actions you are wrong. Most stores won’t give you any options they will just call the cops. If you do get away, there’s a chance someone will be losing their job because it was their job to make sure nothing gets stolen, and that person could be a mom or dad or a friend. And even if that doesn’t stop you, just realize karma is a bitch. I have friends who stole everything in their home and guess what…their house got broken into and all their shit was stolen including some shit that they didn’t steal and now they will never be able to replace those things. What happened to pride? If I want something I work for it. And if I can’t afford it, I either save up or just get over the idea all-together. Did Danny really need that belt or was he just taking advantage of an easy situation? And what will he tell his mom when she asks why he isn’t skating anymore? And how will his Dad feel while he is ducking bullets in Afghanistan and on his weekly phone call home, he finds out his kid lost his board because he is shoplifting? I know times are tough and all but just because you can’t afford tangibles doesn’t mean you can’t have pride. I will leave you with this, something I have told a lot of kids on the path of dickdom. No one in this world owes you shit. Anytime someone is giving you respect, think of that as one of the greatest gifts there is, because this world is cut-throat and only your family HAS to give two shits about you. And some of you aren’t even lucky enough to have that. So, if anyone respects you respect them back. It will get you a lot more places than a fucking belt or a skateboard ever will.