The Truth
Have you ever stolen anything in your life?
Back when I was about ten, under peer pressure, I made off with a chocolate bar from a local convenience store. I couldn’t tell you how I did it: Obviously life was simpler in those days and there was no CCTV. (Yet kids were the same little shits then as they are now). What I can tell you is that I felt guilty as hell, to a point where I don’t even think I ate the damn thing.
Fast forward to about twenty years ago when I was in Hamilton, Ontario for a conference. Two friends and I went out for a lunch on a patio. It was busy with the conference crowd, and the servers were a little harried. When the cheque came, the amount wasn’t even close to what we spent. “What should we do?” I asked. One of my accomplices friends said: “We’re going to pay this bill, get up, and walk away calmly.” I followed, and felt like a criminal.
Last week while shopping with The Young ‘Un, (an agonizing activity at the best of times), we were cashing out at one of the local chains with two items for her and one for me. I signed my Visa bill, we got our bag, and off we went. When we got home, I got to thinking that the total paid seemed awfully low. Turns out, the officious little cashier had neglected to charge me $28.00 for a pair of fleece pants I’d bought for myself. For one moment, one tiny wee moment, I thought “Oh well. Snooze you lose”. But before I could finish that thought, common sense took over and I thought “No. I can’t. I have to go back.”
After a trip home to Toronto (during which the pants in question DID NOT go into my suitcase), I finally made it back to the store to clear my conscience and settle up. The cashiers were tickled, one calling it the nicest thing she’d ever seen a customer do. I paid what was due, and I gave them a smile in the process. That’s all I needed. Now I wear them in comfort.
It’s all about that whole “Do Unto Others” thing that I live by, and lessons that have been learned in a few stupid mistakes.
