Do the Right Thing

So, I was doing some Christmas shopping with my wife at a local jewelry store. She tried on every piece of jewelry in the store naturally, and decided on a couple of modest sterling silver items. The salesman checked us out and we were on our way. Later, while my wife was admiring her purchases, she noticed that she had inadvertantly worn a silver bracelet out without paying for the item.

We engaged in a half hour debate about karma, if we should keep the bracelet, or make a return. Were we receiving karmic remuneration for previous good deeds, or were we going to make a karmic withdrawal from our spiritual accounts, possibly suffering karmic retribution in the future?

Finally, I insisted we "do the right thing" and take the bracelet back to the store. The clerk who served us looked rather sheepish, and muttered a few thanks for our honesty (but offered no discount or reward). His boss; however, looked none too pleased with the situation. Either with the store security (I assumed sirens would go off if we tried to leave with essentially stolen merchandise), or with the salesman for not accounting for the jewelry the customer was modelling for herself.

One of the reasons, among many, for making this return, was so we might prevent the salesman, who was polite and very helpful, from getting his pay docked for the price of the bracelet right around Christmas time.

As it turned out the store could never have pinned the loss on any particular sales person unless we informed them of our honest mistake. The salesman, apparently terminated, is no longer in the employ of the store. My wife since has returned all of the items for cash, and we will find another place to buy jewelry in the future. Merry Christmas, and remember always, always "Do the Right Thing".

Edit: This fine post is by a guest blogger who will introduce himself when he feels it appropriate.