Jane Johnston grew up with strong beliefs
that her very religious family had taught her
over the years. She placed a great deal of value
on treating others fairly, on keeping her word,
and on never being self-righteous. After graduating
from high school, Jane decided to wait a
year or two before going to college. She landed
a job as a factory shipping clerk. However, that
position didn’t give her the kind of money she
needed to save for college and to use for spending
money, so she took a second job as a security
guard at a large retail-chain warehouse.
Jane soon found that even with both jobs,
she wasn’t getting ahead. One night at the
guard job, her co-worker Louis seemed to be
acting strangely. Jane followed him as Louis
walked his hourly round. Twice, she saw Louis
grab something from the warehouse and put it
under his coat. Back in the guard room, Jane
watched as Louis took four objects out of his
coat, then put them into his locker. Later, Jane
checked the locker. She saw a stack of iPods
and other assorted items that were obviously
new and unopened.
After Louis returned to the room, Jane said
quietly, “I saw what you have in your locker.”
Louis replied, “So, Jane, what’re you gonna
do about it?”
“I don’t know,” replied Jane. “But, I’ll admit
I’ve been tempted myself. They leave the final
inventory on the computer, where we could
change anything if we wanted to.”
“Yeah,” smirked Louis. “We’re the trusted
law enforcers.”
Jane replied, “I guess that’s why I’ve never
taken anything; they trust us.”
“Well, I used to feel that way, too, but I don’t
anymore—as you can see. I’ve finally had it
with their trust. So, what are you gonna do, tell
on me?” asked Louis.