This one I have been thinking about for quite a long time. It is the ethics of being a business owner. There are some that get it and do the right thing all the time. Then there are some that get it and do the right thing some of the time. There are others that get it but do not do the right thing any of that time. Then, there are those that do not get it and do not do it any of that time.
For this midday nugget, I am talking about everyone, except for those that get it and do it right all the time. Because they know and they truly understand what it takes to be an ethical business owner. Everybody else there is no excuse.
What I am about to tell you is the truth and nothing but the truth.
Behind the building, that I work in is another building. Between both buildings is an alley. One afternoon I was walking from my building to the other building, which happens to be one of those small post office type shops. You know, the kind that you can walk up to buy stamps mail something, and it also has about eight or nine separate offices within that building that the owner leases out to various small businesses. I was on my way up to buy some postage stamps and as I crossed the alleyway, I saw somebody filling up one of those blue 5-gallon water cooler containers. Big deal right? There was no big deal if the guy was using his own water faucet but he was using my water faucet. That's right, the owner of the building behind my building was using my water faucet to fill up his 5-gallon water cooler container.
I stopped and looked this older man right in the eye and asked, "What are you doing?"
He said, “Nothing."
Expecting me to ignore what he was doing. I did not ignore it. I stood there and look at him and watch them until the finish filling his 5-gallon container of water, shut off my faucet, and return back to his building.
I just could not believe that this guy was blatantly stealing from me and really expected me to ignore it.
Now, as I am writing this the anger returns. I know it should not as this happened about 8 months ago but it still bothers me. It bothers me so much that I am writing this blog post now, all this time later.
What makes it worse is that this guy sells insurance, annuities, and financial packages to regular everyday people. These people come to him with the expectation that they can trust him to do the right thing by them.
Aside from owning the building, this individual also owns the post office contract and the service provided. He has done well for himself. However, after getting that response from him, I have to wonder at what cost? What or who did he sell out to get to where he is at? Who suffered so that he could be where he's at? Who was thrown under the bus and how often so that this individual could feel no shame, have no problem, and could care less about crossing the alley and taking water from someone else's faucet.
Now, I understand there are some that will say what’s 5 gallons? After all, isn't that the neighborly thing to do?
You are correct, what is 5 gallons? It’s just 5 gallons of water and it is the neighborly thing to do if he had ONLY bothered to come and ask for permission! He did not. That is certainly NOT neighborly.
He took it upon himself to do what he wanted to do and he did it.
Everyone, the take away here is to NOT be that guy because you will be caught! Do not try to cut corners because the corner is there for a reason. You are supposed to go all the way to the end and then turn. You cut corners and somebody is shortchanged. When you cut corners, you are cheating.
Since that day, eight months ago, the individual has yet to look me in the eye. I can only suspect that it is because he knows that I know who he is, what he is, and what he did. I can only imagine how long he had been taking the water without so much as asking. For the three years, I was there prior to this incident, he never asked for permission to use the water faucet to fill up his water cooler bottle. The water cooler bottle that his employees drink water from. I am not saying that tap water is bad but I am saying is that it came from an outside faucet. You tell me, who got shortchanged on that one? I wonder if the employees know where their water cooler water came from?
How do you think you would feel if you found out your boss was making you drink from the water cooler that he filled with tap water from the neighbor's alley water faucet? and did so without asking for permission.
Thanks for your time,
Dave Guerra
P.S. I do invite you to join the conversation and tell me what you are thinking.
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