Integrity matters

Delivering pizzas was not my dream job, but it did help pay the bills when I was younger. I worked my 8-5 M-F and then 3-4 nights a week I would put in a few hours to help supplement my income. Dave Ramsey is right. It is a quick way to make a few extra bucks when you need them.

I was a few years older than most everyone who worked in the store (which shall remain nameless for this post), but I tried my best to fit in and have conversations in the slower times.

I still remember one conversation between me and another driver as clear as day, and it has been over almost 15 years ago:

“How was your last run,” I asked.

“It was fine. He didn’t tip worth a crap, but that don’t matter.” The driver smirked as he said this.

“Why doesn’t it matter?” I didn’t like where this was headed.

“Guy paid me with a twenty. It was fresh and crisp. Dumb (word omitted) didn’t see that there was another one stuck to it. Serves him right for not paying attention.” He laughed.

I went on to ask why he didn’t give it back. He told me that the customer (which he called a few more names) wouldn’t miss it. I was disgusted.

Obviously, he had no qualms about skinning the customer. I was not in a position to make the matter right. Had I said anything to management about it, it would have been his word against mine. Had I been the manager I would have fired him on the spot. So, I swallowed the issue and did my best to avoid that driver.

Isn’t integrity worth a bit more than 20 bucks? One would hope so. He had the opportunity to do the right thing. He chose not to. He could have made a faithful customer for the store, but he was just a driver and he didn’t care. What did it matter? Strangely enough, he was promoted to store manager a little while later. I had moved on by then. Had I been there, I am not sure I could have worked for him. If he couldn’t make the right decision with 20 bucks, how was he going to keep the store running? I also heard that he was fired not too long after taking his managerial role.

I’ve thought about this several times over the years. It also reminds me of once when my bride and I were buying some office supplies at Staples. There was a sale on one item, 10 for 10 bucks. So we got 10 and with our other stuff we checked out and left the store. My wife looked over the receipt and told me she felt like we hadn’t spent enough (I don’t hear that one too often). She then realized we had only been charged for one of the ten items. So, I took the item and the receipt and went back in and paid for the 9 others. The cashier thanked me with some surprise in her voice. I smiled and told her that I was glad to help.

It would have been easy to shrug my shoulders and drive away. I am glad those choices are easy. I don’t want to turn around one day and realize that I can’t be trusted because at one point I was willing to take 9 bucks from Staples.

It starts somewhere. If you can’t be trusted with a small amount, how can you ever expect to be trusted with a big one?