I stole over $30k in cigarettes from a CVS I worked at over three years

Between 2008 – 2010 I worked at a CVS as a cashier. I was paid $7.25/hr. It was a terrible job. I imagine anyone working at a CVS, or comparable company, will attest to this.

My literal first day I stole a pack of cigarettes. I wasn’t even a smoker at this point in my life but I had just seen the Darjeeling Limited and thought smoking unfiltered cigarettes would be cool. I hated it. The smoking, not the theft.

Basically every day after that I stole something while at work. Sometimes I’d text friends to let them know I was working and to let me know if they needed anything. Shampoo, condoms, wine, face wash, etc.

Eventually I became a smoker for real and was stealing packs of cigarettes regularly. This eventually evolved to stealing whole cartons of cigarettes. I had the whole Camel family in the trunk of my car, doling out packs to my friends whenever they needed a new pack. In hindsight I should have sold these though maybe the fact I never did kept this whole thing on the down low.

I never stole cash. I was never caught. I suspect, in looking back on it, everyone I worked with was probably stealing stuff. I believe the theft made the job palatable.

Eventually I moved to a new location. One with lots of cameras and lots of security around cigarettes. Not being able to steal anything resulted in my quitting a short while later.

I don’t regret any of the theft.

My very conservative estimate of the amount stolen from CVS while I was employed there (cigarettes only) is around $30,000. I wish I had stolen more.

In full candor, I feel a great deal of pride in my “system” for stealing cigarettes. If there seems to be any interest in this methodology in the comments or whatever I’ll happily type it outs