Good Morning,
I just sat down at my desk and sitting next to me is a hot cup of Door County Coconut Caramel Coffee.
I was always told as a boy, "some day when you are working for a living, be sure to give your employer an honest days work".
Proverbs 10;9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
Being young at the time, did not help me to figure out what that meant. It sunk in when I witnessed someone being terminated for stealing from our employer. I had worked with this guy for a couple of years and could not imagine him stealing anything. I was ready to quit my job because I thought our employer was crazy. This man had been working for this company for 7 years. I called on him after work was done for the day. I told my work buddy that I was going to quit because of the way he was treated. His reply was enough to make me need to sit down.
"Don't quit. I am guilty of stealing." I could not believe it. I would see him every morning come to work on time. I would fill my truck with pipe or fittings I would need for the day. He was the manager of the shop. He would help me and others to load all we needed and he would send us off. I asked him what he stole. He replied "I stole time. I wasn't always in the shop working when I should have been. I would often need to go to our suppliers to obtain things that you fellas needed for the next day. During that time away, I would get a hair cut, or grocery shop, or leave early, saying I was going for supplies. I did not go for the supplies, I would go home early.
Back then, our work time was recorded on a sheet with a pencil. It was an "honor system." We were given a fifteen minute break and a 30 minute lunch. I said to my friend, "Don't they know we get a break and a lunch"? There were times when we worked through our lunch and went home early to make up that difference. But you could explain it on your time sheet. He replied, " I would tell them I worked through my lunch and then I would go home early. My supervisor went to a baseball game yesterday and saw me at the ball park when I recorded that I was working,. You know there is zero tolerance for stealing anything, and I was guilty of stealing time."
Friends, your employer pays you for your time. He or she should get everything they pay for. That extra 10 minutes at lunch is stealing time. The time spent not working and taking personal calls is stealing.
What was worse yet was the fact that he took his son to the game and then had to come home and explain to the family that he had been fired for stealing the time. He set a bad example for his son. His moral compass was not true.
He closed our talk with "I am guilty as charged"
Food for thought, Be honest at work and in life. Honesty is the best policy and no one wants to be labeled as a thief.
God bless,
Marty.
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