A story in yesterday's STAR spoke about a man who had been accused of stealing a door from the school he is employed to.

The man reportedly pleaded guilty to the accusation, but told the court that he did it because his house was constantly being broken into and his clothes were being stolen. Now, unless you are really cold, you must feel a little sympathy for this poor man.

There is really no excuse for taking what is not yours, but as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps this man was simply tired of having to deal with break-ins - nothing wrong with that. It becomes problematic, however, when you try to solve your own problem by creating problems for others.

It probably would have been much easier if he had simply approached the school admin-istration and explained his predicament. Even if they did not agree to give him the door for free, maybe they could have agreed to some sort of payment plan and he could have taken home the door with a free conscience.

But this man made his situation worse by lying to the police and telling them that he had found the door in the bushes. There was so much going for him up to this point. Perhaps, if he had broken down there and admitted everything, he would have received some pity.

What this should teach us, though, is that stealing should never be the first answer to our problems. Now, this man has been remanded and though his house did not have a door, it must have been much more comfortable than a cell.