Meeting a confused thief
Recently I was servicing some of our newspaper vending racks and observed something I found interesting. I had just finished working on a newspaper rack in front of a local convenience store, and was sitting in my truck getting ready to pull away, when I saw a person walk up, put 75 cents in our rack and open it. I was pleased to see the purchase until I noticed that he had pulled out five papers instead of just one.
I approached the man and asked him why he would pull out five papers instead of just the one he had purchased. He replied, “I didn’t.
I paid for every one of these papers.” I then informed him that I saw him put the money in and take more newspapers than he purchased.
The man then said, “I put $3.75 in at once and opened it and got the papers.” Once again, I informed the gentleman that I had watched the transaction take place and saw him only put in 75 cents. The man then proceeded to say that he had made a mistake and simply grabbed more papers than he should have and he hadn’t really seen how many papers he took. He then gave me four of the newspapers back and said that he was sorry and again stated it was a mistake.
I took the papers back and said that I understood and that we all make mistakes from time to time. The man then made the following statement: “I would never take anything that doesn’t belong to me. I was raised to always obey the law and never do anything out of the way. You can ask anybody I’m the most honest person around.” I thanked him for his “honesty” and went to put the papers back into the rack.
This incident gave me pause and caused me to wonder: Who are we, really? I tend to believe that who we are when no one else is looking is our true self. It is easy to do the right thing and say the correct thing when others are watching, but it is those times when we think no one else can see us that really define our character.
There are lots of names for it — two-faced, deceitful, hypocrite, insincere, underhanded, tricky, shifty — and this list can go on and on. However we choose to label it, our moral bearing is defined in those choices we make when we are alone and deciding which path to take.
I believe that we are never truly alone and that there is always help we can turn to in these times of indecision. I think everyone can hear that still, small voice guiding us to do what is right. But you have to listen for it, because it is so easy to let other things crowd it out and mute it.
Maybe the next time that gentleman decides to purchase a newspaper, he will only buy one, but then again, his final statement to me leads me to think otherwise. After the man had walked approximately 40 feet away, he turned around and said, “There ain’t (expletive deleted) in your paper anyway.” Maybe that guy is the same whether he is alone or in a crowd.