Little Crimes Are No Less Wrong For Being Common
The other day, while picking up a pack of pens at Costco, I realized no one else was in that aisle probably because I, not Costco, supply the public with writing utensils.
As a server at a local restaurant, I often lend customers a ballpoint to sign a check or credit card receipt. The following example of an unfortunately common conversation took place recently between me and the people at my table.
“Thanks for coming in, folks,” I said while casually looking for the pen I left with the credit card receipt. The woman, realizing what I was looking for, stated, “Oh, I took your pen.”
From the way she said it, I presumed she felt it was her right as a patron of the restaraunt to take my PaperMate. I laughed a little, stalling, trying to figure out how I was going to get my pen back.
I figured a straightforward approach might work best. I calmly asked, “Well, may I have it back? I really need the pen the rest of the night.”
She, acting very offended, informed me, “Well, I liked it.”
Thinking this was not exactly logical, and simultaneously noticing that the tip on the credit card receipt was not enough to cover a replacement, I replied, “I’m sorry, but I have to pay for my own pens, and I really do need it for the rest of my shift.” She dramatically opened her purse and, with a huff, returned it to me. I thanked her and again told them to have a good night.
This incident isn’t just about a pen. It is representative of our society’s moral code slowly breaking down.
When I was growing up, my parents and my church taught me the Ten Commandments, including, “Thou shalt not steal.” I always understood that if I took something, unless it was given to me, I stole it. But somewhere in the last 20 years, people have stretched the boundary of what is OK to take and what is not.
Perhaps it’s the disease of big government and big corporations taking advantage of the little guy through high taxes and low wages, so these same little guys have to take advantage of even smaller things, like their server’s uni-ball. I presume the people taking my pens home with them are the same people who take towels from hotels and grapes from the supermarket.
So, please, the next time you’re in a restaurant, leave the ink applicator on the table. And then pat yourself on the back for abiding by such archaic rules as “Thou shalt not steal.” Your parents would be proud.
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