It’s so hurtful to have someone jump to conclusions about your character and accuse you of stealing something you haven’t put your hands on.
This 16-year-old girl currently lives in a foster home, and this has to be her 14th or 15th placement, so she sadly has been bounced around a lot.
She was placed with this particular family, the Millers, at the start of January. They’re kind people, and they have an enormous extended family, which has taken some getting used to.
For the Super Bowl on Sunday, they went to her foster mom’s sister’s house to celebrate, and there were easily 30 guests in attendance.
The husband of her foster mom’s sister, Rick, immediately began treating her like she was some kind of thief. He watched her like a hawk, waiting for her to swipe something.
Since she’s been in foster care from the age of seven, she’s come to accept that many people act like this and assume there’s something wrong with her.
While it’s still insulting, she’s come to expect it.
“We spent the whole time watching the game, the half-time show, and had a great time making food and watching the Seahawks win,” she explained.
“When we got back to our house, I was getting ready to get in the shower when there was loud knocking on the door. My foster dad opened it, and Rick came rushing in, screaming about how I was a thief. One of his watches disappeared during the game.”
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“I guess he has a collection of expensive watches? He had called everyone he could think of, telling them I had stolen it and if they had seen me with the watch, then demanded they check my room, check me, call the police. I just handed over my hoodie, turned around in a circle so they could see there was no watch-shaped bulge in my jeans.”
She then allowed her foster parents and Rick to search her room, which didn’t take long, as all of her belongings basically fit in a trash bag.
Sure enough, nobody could locate the watch, and that was because she did not steal it as Rick claimed. Rick stormed out of the house, threatening to call the cops if the watch didn’t materialize.
An hour later, Rick’s wife called her foster mom and dad to say the watch had been found underneath one of the dressers in their home.
She did apologize and stated she should have pushed Rick to search the house better before allowing him to race over there and falsely accuse her of stealing the watch.
“She was hoping we could all put the whole thing behind us, and I just shook my head and went to take a shower. I’m not forgiving Rick for running around telling everyone I’m a thief because he couldn’t look before he lost his mind,” she continued.
“I know it’s going to cause problems, but I just don’t want to be the bigger person when I’m not the adult. So I guess [am I the jerk] for not forgiving him for calling me a thief?”
I’m upset that Rick didn’t apologize to her directly, and no, she should not accept the apology his wife weakly offered to her. I’m so sad for her to be treated like this when she did nothing wrong.
She should definitely tell her caseworker about what happened, as hopefully they can stick up for her or put her in a home where she will be treated better.
What advice do you have for her?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
