[shermantanktop]

The lenience you enjoyed presumably resulted in problems or harm for others.

I got a few breaks as well as a kid too. I think teenage boys end up being a community investment and people are cleaning up broken windows, stolen cars, graffiti, and worse as we hope the kids grow up.

[actionfromafar]

And it probably saved a lot of problems or harm for others, further down the line. OP might have become a career criminal without that lenience.

[conductr]

Very true. I’d just say, it’s the leniency that’s the investment more so than the cleaning up part. Because the damage being done is almost a given. How elders respond to it shapes whether it becomes an asset or a liability.