Honesty Is The Best Policy

I was at a thrift store today and overheard a couple talking about the prices of the thrift store. I started talking to the couple about how the store prices things at regular price on the first month, half price the second month, and then $.25 the third month. 

They appreciated me telling them how the pricing worked. He mentioned that the prices at the other thrift store in town are super expensive. 

I mentioned that sometimes they can ask the managers to lower the price and the husband admitted that they have two children, a boy and a girl. He said that there was a price of $2 on the boy's pants, and a price of $4 on the girl's pants. He said he pulled the price off the girls pants, and then when they got to the register, they called the manager up, and she put a price of $8 on the pants because it didn't have a tag on it.

The father was upset that the price then was double what it would have cost if he hadn't ripped the tag off and was complaining that the price went up. The way he was talking, I knew it wasn't the first or last time he had ripped off tags. He was so matter of fact about his dishonesty that I was taken aback.

I try really hard to be honest in all I do, so to hear someone so proudly boasting of being dishonest really made me sad. The wife didn't seem to have any issues with the behavior or bragging about the behavior either. 

I explained to them that the manager has had to learn to increase the price if the tag is missing so that people will quit pulling prices off or switching tags on items. I mentioned that if they had been honest, they could have gotten the pants for $4 and by increasing the price to $8 with the tag missing, it taught them that if they pull off a tag, they won't get the item or will have to pay twice as much for the item. 

They both seemed to have a light bulb go off when I told them that. Like it hadn't occurred that they weren't the only ones changing tags or being dishonest. I asked them if they would take the tags off knowing that they would increase the price now, and they said "no," so what the manager was doing is working. 

I couldn't stop thinking about how sad the world is with these young parents teaching their children to cheat, be dishonest, and bragging about that situation. I pondered on it all afternoon. 

When I sat down to blog, I opened YouTube to reply to comments, and there was a 3 year old video that showed up that I had not seen before by Marc Rober. It was a video where he bought 200 wallets, sent them all over the U.S. and had people drop them in different spots and video them picking them up.

He had them drop some in men's restrooms and women's restrooms to see if men or women were more honest and it was mostly even. He had the drop half of them in the richer areas of the towns and cites and half in the poorest areas and the wallets were returned almost in the exactly same numbers showing that it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor to determine how honest you are. 

They also put them in big cities and small towns all across the U.S. They sent the same number of wallets to each place. In the end, Detroit was the least honest city in the U.S. and Chicago and Salt Lake City were the most honest cities. 

I do have to say that many years ago when I was living on the East coast, I was visiting my sister in Salt Lake and we took our kids to Sears Photo studio and we were getting our kids ready in the bathroom, and I left a very full wallet of money in the bathroom. I guess it had fallen out of my purse into the couch in the mothers room and I didn't notice when we left. I noticed when I went to pay and went back to the bathroom, and my wallet was gone. 

I contacted security, and they had already called my home and left a message on my answering machine but I was shocked that all my money and credit cards were all still in the wallet. I thought even if the person turning the wallet into security was honest and left the money in the wallet. 

Having lived in a not so honest place in MA, I was really impressed with getting my wallet back with everything in it. 

I had turned money in at a super market and didn't get out of the store before the worker pocketed the money. After that, I always left my name with a note saying if anyone came in saying they lost money, they could give them my number and if they could tell me how much they lost, I would return the money. 

I was impressed with the results of the wallet video showing that for the most part, people are good and honest and it restored some of my loss of trust in humanity after my experience today. 

I am glad that most people are honest. Have a blessed day!