Saturday, November 2, 2013

Obvious Truths

Last week, I discovered that some truths that I hold to be self-evident are evidently not that crystal clear to other people.

On Wednesdays, when I get off work, I drive to Amarillo, pick up CJ and drive back to Hereford so that he can go to Faith Formation and I can teach it.   We are not in the same grade.  Then, after class, I drive him home and then drive myself home.

The Wednesday before his birthday and his mom's birthday, we stopped at WallyWorld on the way home so that he could buy a gift for his mom and I could get cards and wrapping paper and whatnot.  We shopped, we checked out, I paid, and we left the store.

As we were walking to the pickup, I mentioned that the amount that I was charged seemed off to me - that it didn't seem like enough.  It was, by this time, after 9:00 and I was still a couple of hours from home.  I told Bubba that I would check the receipt later and off we went.

A couple of days later, when I ran across the receipt in my purse, I did remember to check it.  I had assumed that the clerk had overlooked a card or only rung up one thing of wrapping paper or something like that.  I was wrong.  He did not ring up the two movies that we had purchased as gifts.  No problem.  An easy problem to rectify and I did so.

By the way, it is much easier to return something to WallyWorld than it is to pay for something that you no longer have with you.

I was amazed, when telling this story to friends and acquaintances and my fifth grade class the next Wednesday, how many people did not come to the same, to me, obvious solution.  The only person who made the leap immediately, without thought, was my child.  I was amazed by how many people saw this as a boon, a gift from the gods, so to speak, instead of an honest mistake that, however honest, still left me in possession of two movies that had not been paid for.  I have never knowingly given anyone stolen property as a gift and I still have not.

No great lessons in this post.  I am just kind of disheartened at how many people that I thought I knew, I didn't.


6 comments:

KaThYinCoLoRaDo said...

People look at you like you have two heads when you go back into the store and tell them you need to pay for some item that was hiding under the bag of dog food. Almost as if it's just understood that if they don't charge for it, you don't have to pay for it. My youngest took the canister from the bank drive-through the other day, and there was a wad of cash stuck in the opening. $500 worth of cash. She, of course, put it in the canister and sent it back, telling the cashier she had found it. Wonder what the percentage of people is that wouldn't do the same ?

Richard said...

You know who would and did do the right thing? Dad. When he bought me that 22 rifle for Christmas. He found that the cashier had not charged him for it. He went back and paid. Like father , like daughter.

Pamela said...

(that bank cannister thing is something that the cashier could have gotten fired over .. so glad that she sent it back.)

Not much honesty in this world anymore. Maybe there never was and I am just now recognizing it

Sayre said...

I am also amazed at how dishonest most people seem to be. My stepson is probably one of the most dishonest people I've ever met when it comes to stuff like that. If you don't get caught, it's not stealing according to him. Unfortunately, when he DID get caught, it was his dad who bailed him out and paid the fine. I found out about it and he doesn't do that anymore. If you steal and get caught, it's YOUR problem - not mine (or your dad's). I've had to draw some pretty solid lines in the sand when it comes to dealing with him. Fortunately, my son is a VERY honest person!

karmyn R said...

I think the store should be jumping over hoops and giving you a huge discount when this situation happens.

Unknown said...

Makes me think of the people who rush to the gas station who marked their pumps wrong and are momentarily selling their gas for #8 cents a gallon or so. Amazing!

 
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