Balancing Act
stargrace 
We’re certainly not all perfect (some of us not even remotely close) so when I created my sim I decided to give her the kleptomaniac trait. Along with that trait I chose generosity, and a few others like green thumb and lucky.
Now, my sim likes her free time, a lot. I decided she would quit her full time job, and take a part time job at the book store. This freed a lot of time to work in her garden where I sell fruits and vegetables on the side. Of course growing things can also be pricey at first, so I took a trip to the neighbors house and harvested all of their vegetables for them. It wasn’t as though they were going to use them! Onion and garlic and potato that was far better then anything I had currently growing (tomatoes and apples). My neighbors would never miss them!
That’s how it started. Something small and expendable like veggies and fruit.
Over time, I noticed a few more little ‘things’ went missing when my sim was around. I would send her off to work and she would come home with a ‘free’ stack of magazines. She tried to explain that it was just a perk of the job, but they were clearly marked ‘stolen’. She didn’t even read them but dropped them on the table and went about her business.
Feeling a little lonely I sent her over to the neighbors home again, to talk a little. She was feeling hungry so she helped herself to the microwave food laying around (and was scolded over that) then proceeded to walk from room to room pilfering items when no one was looking. It almost became a game to see how much she could get away with.
That night she came home with a new shower (I’m sure the Roomies won’t miss that!) a box of tissue, and a picture one of the Roomies had hanging on their wall. She had no issues setting up the ‘new’ items in her home (and selling the old shower, it only sprayed cold water anyhow) though she did get a few lifetime requests to return the items, I decided she’d rather not – see, she’s not all bad.
Because she has the generosity trait she has the option to donate to charity (often) and she does. $100 increments here and there, on a fairly steady basis. She also has the ability to brighten people’s days and I try to take advantage of that – so despite the fact that she’s stealing from her neighbours at least she is trying to balance the bad traits out (she can’t help but steal after all – it’s like you spot a shiny in EQ2 just LAYING there even though your group may be in the middle of some big fight, can you pass that up? No, of course not!) and trying to make a difference in the small way that she can.
This time around I turned off the aging feature in the options, because I didn’t want my sim to die – a little odd I know but I’d like to be able to play for a good length of time and see what I can work her up to. I’ve left the story line on, and that at least gives me a little direction.
Amusing story, yesterday she was out in her yard working her garden (a typical chore, they requier a lot of work especially when you have a large number of plants) and she was out there a little too long because her smell became quite unsavory. A neighbour happened to come walking along who she had never met before and he laughed and pointed at her due to the scent. At least she was getting a good day of hard work in! Meanie!
The little quirks and twists and turns that happen in game amuse me, the bits that I have no control over while still having control if that makes any sense. You can try to anticipate how someone is going to react or what is going to go wrong, but you won’t always be 100% correct. That’s what keeps the game fun and interesting to me.