Mercina had been walking through the streets and she was just about to turn the corner when she felt a hand in her pocket. Whipping her head around to glare at the person.

"Woah lady I meant no harm..." They began as she stalked even closer. She was mad. Anyone nearby could see the obvious signs of anger in her face but the person continued on. "You see you didn't have the Not Pickpocket friendly button..."

Just like that a switch flicked and she turned to look at them. Raising her voice so anyone nearby could hear her if they had wanted to.

"To wear the button or not to wear the button. Let me tell you a little something about those buttons. Regardless of your rank, people will do what they want to do. "

Mercina glanced around and noticed a few signs of what was coming so she rushed on.

"Please don't tell me that it is because in this community I am at the low end of the totem poll. Do not insult my intelligence so when I have journals upon journals that would utter the opposite to rely on. Let me instead pose a question to you, are the buttons so respected that there is a point to wearing them?"

"Just the other day I stumbled across other buttons that would state they did not care about your stance. More and more I see these buttons being worn and makes me wonder if there is a point to wearing such anymore?"

She paused and glanced around quickly. She was relieved that no one seemed to mind her chatter so she finished up quickly.

"I am sure there are some people among us that still have some common respect for people that would indeed respect it but they seem so far and in between these days. Perhaps the focus should be more on those knowing the risk they take."

"If you are reaching your hand anywhere near me there is always a chance I will backhand that smile right off your face. Is this cruel? Perhaps but I earn my money. I would certainly like to choose where it goes without a thief taking it."

She rubbed her temples as the most frustrating part flashes through her mind.

"Can we not see what disrespect it is to mail the person you just tried to steal from in hopes of either antagonizing them or being silly? I mean you can't expect the person to know your intent if you have never spoken to them. If you are not a familiar face would you expect anything short of blunt answers?"

"Most importantly though what are your thoughts? Is there a point to the buttons and sending a mail to the mugger that you just tried to steal from?"

Mercina noticed the crowd had grown and was silently daring anyone to speak up. Hoping that there would be more thoughts on the matter that she could take and mull around for later.

Tommy had been walking down the street when he had heard this womans rant. It had been something that he had thought about in the past. He wasn't cool with anybody sticking their dirty paws in his pockets. If yous needed money you could go and work for it like he head, he started with nothing, and so could anybody. If he caught someone in his pockets he was going to beat em down. He listened to her rant, and she had some very solid points, and so he chimed in and let her know that.

"There aint no point for them buttons. Nobody gives a shit, they take what they wants from yous and thats that. The only deterrence is to beat em down."

The buttons and badges people wear these days are pretty stupid in my opinion. Whatever it reads comes down to one of two things: "I'm not okay with you stealing from me." or "I'm okay with you stealing from me.". The first is common sense and what someone should expect to be normal, so communicating that to others is like saying "I need oxygen". The second makes you look like an idiot, because no sane people like it when stuff gets taken from them.
 

We moved away from civilian life, so we wouldn't be bound by rules and expectations as to how we make our money. Yet here we are creating limitations for ourselves. The people who ignore someone's stance on thievery operate according to their intent with which they joined this world. That's something I applaud really.

Now, we do have rules in place and they exist for a good reason: to protect yours and others progression in this world. Attempting to murder someone in our society is a big problem as your action can have quite some impact to a personal life or the operation they are a part of. That rightfully would awaken vengeful feelings.

In the case of pickpocketing however, the effect is fairly small. If the victim feels they have been wronged, they have the option to chase their attacker and give them a fair beating. Both actions only have some minor implications for just the two people involved and none of the effects is of lasting nature. Basically pickpocketing is an act that's perfectly in line with the expected behaviour of criminals. Limiting it through buttons and badges we wear on our clothes makes people look silly.

That said there are edge-cases in which I would advise not to pickpocket someone. That's another topic however and I'll probably explain that to whoever tries their luck in picking my pockets.