A lot of the crime in philadelphia is for shits-and-giggles, particularly among the crowds of teenagers in center city, which were the ones creating most of the havoc at the Wawa locations.

No doubt people occasionally steal out of need, but the notion that crime as a whole is done out of having no other option just isn't true. Plenty of crime is committed out of selfishness, or for thrill, or sometimes out of pure malice.

Most of the havoc at the center city Wawa locations has been teenagers doing it for kicks. The one at Broad and Walnut would have the semi-regular stabbing, for which I don't know the motives, but it didn't seem to be someone hungry needs food.