I'm giving credit where its due here. I've yet to see an apology with less excuses & minimizing. As far as confessions & apologies go, that was as good as they come (& I've heard more than my share). Its a great start. You have a functioning conscience & it shows. Hearing you actually say that you intended to screw him over to begin with turned my stomach. That was honest to the point of being selfless. Putting yourself out there for much-deserved abuse is also good for all of us who never got to confront the thieves that got us & who make our hobby less enjoyable. Thanks you for doing that. But nothing but years of honest, stand-up behavior is going to get you to the spot you want to be at. The words of alcoholics & junkies are notoriously worthless. A few even mean what they say when they say it. They just stop meaning it minutes or hours later. Or they're truly deep-down sorry only because they're caught & don't want to deal with unsympathetic judges. Remember, you posted this too, before it all went south:
"Well I suppose how im allowed to proceed is because it's one side to a bs story. I'm not going to bicker on here like a kid. Apparently jaydev feels he owns or owned (if he lost one) the only Ritter in existence. And also is flattered enough that in the 300 or so Internet transactions I've made his knife is the one I had to steal. I have made five trades on this forum in the last two weeks and three on another all without a hitch and for much more expensive knives. Hinderers, sebenza and emersons. My eBay fdback is 100% on 192 transactions. Imbued anyone can take pictures that were sent to him and claim it was his and it was stolen. I once heard a quote that says "there is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance that principal is contempt prior to inestigation". Thanks for that from those of you I have received crappy emails from. I guess I'll take a break for a while but you people really need to get both sides before blame is placed. Thanks and have a good day all."
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...h-out-for-sogtrident7?p=10377222#post10377222
I noticed that you had less than 21 posts, almost all in the exchange, before getting into this situation, by the way. How many others are there that we haven't found out about?
What you did will never go away or be forgotten. Nor should it. And no one owes you forgiveness or a second chance. Or even a first. Coming from someone who has been on the wrong end of too many junkie & alcoholic misdeeds, my advice is to follow up this gesture with action & give your victim his due (& then some). I've been in his shoes plenty & gotten reams of apologies & lip service. But I've never gotten back what I lost or any sort of repayment. Making it right with him will put you in a category above every other addict I'm aware of. And most importantly,
its' what he deserves. Being screwed over by strangers makes people less trusting toward everyone. This means that good people are less inclined to give other good people a chance because of people like you. That hurts the world much more than the material loss.
I've traded many times on this forum & others without a single bad experience. I'm a bit naive & just assumed that anyone who spends this much money for something frivolous like knives & watches exchange sub-forums is a functional knife nerd. It's not an obvious attraction for criminal types. I'd like to think that the rarity of incidents like this speak to the generally solid standards of the types that indulge in our little hobby. I'll continue to operate on this assumption & enjoy my cozy little bubble of joy, albeit with a bit more checking into the other side of the deal. Thanks for letting me vent a bit.
