HONEST....OR NOT?

The Relief Society always emails a little advertisement of the next week's lesson along with questions the instructor would like the sisters to think about before coming to class.  I read one of those blurbs the other night for yesterday's Relief Society lesson.  It was from Howard W. Hunter's teachings about honesty.  The teacher wrote the following to generate some thought before Sunday.

President Hunter teaches us "If we are sensitive to our relationship to the Savior we must be honest in the little things as well as the big."

Some questions to ponder as you study this chapter-

What does it mean to be honest with ourselves?

How can we make our religion a part of everything we do in our daily life?

What is integrity?

How can we develop integrity?

How have you been blessed when you have lived true to the Lord's standards?

I had a stupid little experience recently, but it weighed heavy on me when it happened.  So I decided to respond to the teacher even though I am not currently attending Relief Society because of my calling as Primary president.  I told her it was just an FYI so she would know I am still keeping up with our class study.

HERE IS WHAT I WROTE:

I was on a layover in Orange County recently and went into a Wal-Mart along my walk to buy some postcards.  I also picked up some other items and went to the self check aisle to pay. 

One item was something small I picked up to go with my grand boy's birthday present for next month's celebration. But the bar code was so small I didn't think it had scanned when I passed it over the machine. So I set it aside and scanned the other items including four postcards. Each card beeped that it had been read and I dropped each into the bag.  But the screen kept giving an error message:an unknown object was in the way.

I kept moving everything I could think of out of the way and finally I called for the clerk to help and to have her scan the birthday item as well. Turned out the item HAD scanned in the very beginning so I called her back to remove the double charge. She did. 

Time was running short for the two mile walk back to my hotel so I could shower and get on the shuttle to go to the airport.  I thanked the clerk for her help and practically jogged to the hotel.

It wasn't until I was back in my room when I took the items out of the bag to pack them and put the sales slip into my wallet that I realized that even though the post cards had beeped, the price never registered.  THAT was the unknown object! 

It upset me that I had taken four post cards that hadn't been paid for-- and had even called the clerk over to help me. It was too late to go back.  And I never know when I might have the same layover again. 

I tried to rationalize that I had TRIED to pay for them; that it was just four little post cards; that it wasn't really stealing. And why didn't the clerk notice the discrepancy?

It bothered me a lot. So when I finished my assignment a couple of days later,  I made a trip to the Wal-Mart in Loveland.  

It so happened there was a looong line at the customer service desk which gave me plenty of time to play out the scene in my head with the clerk at the customer service desk.  How was THAT going to sound?  The machine beeped for each card but there was no price registered?   Kind of sounded lame.  I was almost tempted to leave without advancing to the front of the line. But I knew I would never be able to write someone a note on those postcards.

Not surprisingly the clerk had to call a supervisor to know how to handle the fact I wanted to pay for those post cards.

I heard the exchange on the two way radio. ... at first surprised silence.  Most people go to that department asking for money back.  I wanted to GIVE them money. 

Finally the supervisor told the clerk to thank me for my honesty but because the postcards were not in their system (they say Southern California, so I guess not. ..) There was no way to complete the transaction.  Just send me on my way WITH THE CARDS.  

Apparently this is going to be one of those stories Walmart employees might share in the break room.  Of no consequence to them. Just another looney customer.

But it was of consequence to me.  It bugged me to death until I got it taken care of.

Then after I sent that little recount to the teacher, I got thinking about some other questionables in my life.  My idea of myself as being honest didn't seem to parse with some of the other stuff I have done.

For example when I couldn't get Labor Day weekend off at United for the dates Harold and Brittany and their families had planned to come so we could all go to the Fort Collins Temple open house--and to add insult to injury I was assigned our yearly requalification on that Sunday and Monday of the holiday--I called scheduling and told them I was using my Family Medical Leave for the four-day block I was supposed to be on call for Reserve. 

Was that honest?  I was denied  WOP, DAT, and GWOP  all of which adds up to "without pay", "day at a time vacation", and "gone without pay".  Those are the only avenues I have to take time off.  If those requests are rejected, what do I do? 

I used to fly whether I had been denied the time off or not.  Now I just take what time I need if there is a conflict with the reasoning that family is more important.  And that's because I have missed out on a whole heck of a lot of events and activities in the past 16 years because I was so rigid. 

Now I'm wondering again....am I really honest or not?