got to do. That’s just life sometimes.”

Blair’s a seasoned veteran at doing what he feels he’s got to do he can get by.
Ever since he held a previous job at a gas station, he’s been in on a scam that allows
gas station attendants to exchange full points cards with empty ones, stealing the full
cards and returning the empty card to the patron who actually earned the points. The
points are then redeemed for gift cards and sold at a discount to friends, who in turn
redeem these gift cards for cheap gas. The employees profit from every stolen gift
card that is sold.

Blair also admits to having scammed credit cards at one point.

“When times were tough a little while ago, I learned how to scam money from
credit cards. At first it helped pay the bills, but when I started pulling in more money
I was actually able to save it. Actually, I got to Europe by scamming credit cards,” he |,
said.

When asked if he had ever contemplated asking his family for money when he
falls on hard times, he said he would never consider asking anybody for a dime. “It’s
just not in my nature. What’s the point of living on your own then? I don’t want to go §
home. That’s a step back for me.” |

Desperate times, desperate measures

Similar tales include that of a 22-year-old man who admitted to stealing cash
out of the register at a Tim Hortons because his minimum wage paycheques and
progressively fewer shifts were not enough to keep him afloat in the sinking
economy.

“Anyone who would give me exact change, I’d just open the till without
punching in an order and remember how much extra I put in. At the end of the night,
sometimes I’d come out with an extra 40 or 50 bucks,” said the man. “It’s what
you've got to do sometimes.”

Another 18-year-old girl used Craigslist to advertise her “need of financial help,
big time.” Her post boasts her “5 ft 3, 106 lbs, very petite and sexy body, great ass,
small but perky breasts, soft skin, full lips, great smile and awesome personality” to
men all over the Vancouver area who are willing to help her out with her $500 rent
bill.

After a couple of emails back and forth, in which she wrote, “have I got a story
for you,” the barely-legal teen stopped returning mail and backed out of an interview.

Any of the above may be good, quick cash, but all interviewees openly
expressed a sense of shame in participating in criminal activity to earn enough of an
income to live a normal life. In the end, the economy is what it is and the choices
these youth are making are still choices. There are many alternative yet law-abiding
places to turn to in times of financial need, but perhaps none quite as lucrative as the
business of crime. For many, though, the legality and morality of the issue has taken
a spot on the back burner right now. After all, a man must eat before he has enough
energy to worry about personal ethics.

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