30.6.06

Why does doing the right thing sometimes feels wrong?

I like to think that I’m pretty honest. I’m not very good at lying because my face says it all, all of the time. That’s why when the self checkout machine gave me a hundred dollar bill instead of a twenty, I took it to the girl that oversees them all and traded it in for a twenty. Yeah, I could use the money, but I got nervous since the machine had my debit card info and thought they could somehow trace it all back to me. Since then, I’ve thought so many times, “Que mensa!”

7 comments:

Ktrion said...

Hey, girl, you did GOOD!

When in doubt, always do the right thing.

This is so not comparable, but anyway:

I was walking out of farmer joes yesterday and I hadn't zipped my wallet up and my change fell out. I found 2 quarters right away, but knew that I had had three quarters in the change section. I was about to just give it up, when two little girls eating ice creams said "you missed another quarter: it's right there."

I knew in my heart that at their age I would've kept quiet hoping the lady walked off so I could keep that quarter she'd missed.

It just made me so happy--not so much that they were "honest" but that they didn't feel like they had to sneak and keep quiet for a quarter.

Unknown said...

well, i would have probably returned it because otherwise mr.cc, also known as my conscious enforcer, would have wrestled me for it and returned it himself. i think you did the right thing. and i think you earned brownie points with the universe and hopefully it will be returned to you three times over in the future..

John Pluecker said...

i like your photo. way to go! jp

Georgina Baeza said...

Thanks Ktrion, JP, and CC.

I'm sure if I'd kept the money, I'd freaked out about going back to this particular store.

Wintergreen-I think people are more or less about the same in the honesty department.

I didn't mention in the entry that the manager, who was called to deal with the situtaion, didn't even bother saying "thank you." Bad manners really irk me.

Regina Rodriguez-Martin said...

I can't even walk out of a store with an accidentally-unpaid-for Bic pen. I definitely would have returned the $100 bill. Good for you. The manager sucks for not thanking you.

Gwen said...

Feel good about doing the right thing. If you hadn't returned it, then at best it would have been docked from the cashier's salary and at worst she would've been fired for stealing.

Georgina Baeza said...

Very true Regina and Gwen. I did think about the cashier. It would suck if she got fired for something ilke that.