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The Original Pickpocket
I grew up very poor. I don’t blame my parents, I just wasn’t provided with the same things that other people were. Now if you want to grow up with fancy stuff of your own, you could do one of two things. The first being to just get a noble job and die an average yet respectable man, but I didn’t have the patience for that. I started off with option two, stealing. If people were distracted or dazed I could easily maneuver their wallet out of their pocket. But it got kind of boring...so I came up with a game. The most crazy fun and addictive game in the world. You start by finding someone rich looking and striking up a conversation. It usually goes on for a while because rich people always have their guard up. Eventually, after earning their confidence, I say “do you trust me with your watch until tomorrow.”
I had no intention of returning their watches but I guess I just have a face you can trust. This worked on several occasions but I didn’t realize how much I was doing it. I eventually saw a story about me on the news. The man that only took five minutes was saying how he had faith in me and I betrayed him. The news people went on to call me a confidence man for gaining people’s confidence in my return with their watch. After some time the term was shortened to conman and I had been arrested for my crimes. I knew this day had to come and it’s okay. Come on, I was pretty freaking proud. You know how guarded rich people are, especially about their watches? I mean, it’s kind of a skill to be able to talk people into a completely ridiculous deal with someone they just met. And I’m not complaining, it’s kind of a relief to be locked away. I don’t have to put a roof over my own head and I don’t have to worry about getting caught anymore. I had a good run, and besides who knows what I might have inspired?
Ritika Singh, 17
Andover, MA