Dear editor,
I want to apologize to the community for shoplifting some groceries a few months back.
I wasn’t fully aware of how I was affecting others or myself by doing it. I feel really bad that everyone has to pay a little bit for my mistake. Honest, good people end up paying higher prices.
It is also easy to forget all the consequences when you do something like shoplifting. I hadn’t even thought having something like that on my record or about it affecting my life in so many ways, like my ability to get a job or affecting my reputation in the community, or even jail time.
I realize that what I did was a mistake and does not make me a bad person. I’ve now done my research and have discovered that Courtenay is a very caring community with lots of help for people in need.
I feel disappointed that I did not come up with a better solution instead of stealing, like seeing if there was a food bank in town or even a soup kitchen, which there is. But I am very sorry and have learned from my mistake.
Editor's note: This letter was written anonymously as a condition of a settlement reached with the help of the Comox Valley Community Justice Centre.