Honesty is the Best Policy

Mom, you raised me well. You'd be proud. Or not. I'm not sure! You like to save a buck just as much as I do... What would you have done?... What would any of you have done?

Tonight Alex and I stopped at Staples because he needed some school supplies. So I thought I'd check out the wireless modems while I was there. I found one that looked like it would do the trick. And it was only $40. So I picked it up. Alex got some dry erase markers, post-it notes and a ton of index cards.

We got to the register and put our merchandise down. The clerk started scanning everything in and I got out my credit card to get ready to pay. Next thing I hear is "$16.26 please." Huh? I thought I heard incorrectly, so I looked up at the register. Indeed, that's what it said. I looked back down at the counter to see if she forgot to scan in the modem. I didn't see it anywhere, so I checked the bags. There it was. I thought maybe it was on sale. Or free maybe! I looked back at the register. And said something to the clerk about the modem being $40 and how I was confused at the price. Then she looked closer and realized she didn't scan the modem price, she only scanned the security tag. So she did the one transaction with the $16 worth of school supplies, then did an additional transaction with the $40 modem. And then she thanked me at least 5 times for being honest. She said I could easily have walked out the door with it. Or could I? Aside from being horrible at acting, I don't know if I could have done it. I would have felt guilty forever each time I looked at the modem. I would have feared the Staples Police coming after me! I think I did the right thing and I felt good about it afterwards.

Oh and mom, you can bring your laptop now when you visit, I have a working wireless network!! And it only cost me $40.