To the young lady who stole this tee shirt from my shop (shown here modeled by the lovely Emily for a listing on etsy, who would never steal)...
I hope you come back into my shop someday, because I know who you are and you will not have a pleasant shopping experience. At. All.
Perhaps your ignorance comes from your age and lack of life experience. Perhaps your parents never taught you that stealing is illegal. Perhaps you are an idiot. But I would like to let you know what stealing from me means.
I am a single Mom, and all of the merchandise in my shop has been purchased outright by myself on my own dime (not credit). Let me explain to you how being a grown up with a privately owned small business works.
I invest in inventory with the faith that it will one day sell at a profit. That is how I make money! That is what I call my "salary". As a single Mom when you steal from me, you take away my ability to pay medical bills, my car payment, my rent, my utilities, buy gas and groceries, my insurance on myself and my 5 year old daughter.
Now, one tee shirt does not cover much of those expenses by any means. But the idea that you, as a care-free, parent-supported naive and irresponsible teenager would steal from someone like me really chaps my arse. You got a free shirt and got your laughs at mine and my daughter's expense, which is despicable.
Lastly, if anyone in Des Moines sees someone wearing this (very rare) tee shirt, please let her know how I feel and ask her if she is so brave as to steal, if she would also be so brave as to stop into the shop and have a chat with me about it. I'll bet she's not so brave after all.
~Ang
