By Cheryl Smith
Recently, I was at the airport and a man was turning in a rental car. The agent at the desk checked the mileage and then asked if the car had been filled up. The man replied, “No, my company will take care of it.”
That statement triggered something in me. First, I wondered if that man had to pay the cost of having the rental car company fill the car up, would he have made a stop at a gas station and paid a lower price, or would he have just turned it in and paid the exorbitant fee that is required when you don’t bring the car back on full?
Which brings me to my truth.
When no one is looking, my actions are the same. When I am paying, my actions are the same.
But not everyone is like me. And some let you know they are not like you. Imagine the scene, where you’re sitting in the restaurant, and the server comes with the bill. Someone hands over their credit card and says, “I got it.” Someone else says, “Ah man, if I had known you were paying I would’ve ordered the lobster!”
Shaking my head. When I go to a restaurant, I get what I want and what I am prepared to pay for. And that’s a big difference. Some might consider it a character, flaw, or even an ethical violation when you act a certain way based on circumstances.
Now about the rental car customer, I’d like to have employees who value my dollar as much as they value theirs.
If you wouldn’t do something with your money, why do it with my money?
Your actions say something about your character.
When she was younger, I taught one of my “Three Live Crew plus One” a lesson because when she began working, she went grocery shopping for me. When I looked into the refrigerator, I called her over.
Me: “What is this?” Her: “It’s butter.”
Me: “No, it isn’t. If you’re going to call yourself replacing something you ate, at least get what you ate.”
She was flabbergasted, totally clueless. Her: “What do you mean?”
Me: “If you go to the store to replace the Oreo cookies that you ate, go get Oreo cookies. Do not come back with a package that says ‘Cookie’ with a picture of a knock-off Oreo cookie. The same with my butter.”
Her: “Why are you saying I didn’t buy butter when I did?”
Me: Trying not to yell. “Because right here on the box it says, ‘I Can’t Believe it’s not Butter!’”
Enough said. You give what you get, you replace what you use, and you value other’s money and items like you value yours.
It’s simple, do unto others!
