Imprints

We are who we are because of the people and experiences that have left imprints on our lives. I've had many life-teachers, one stands out as a bright and shining example of honesty and integrity; I don't even remember her name. When I was twenty-one years old I worked for The Singer Company at Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette, IN; I was the bookkeeper. The store was open from 1 PM until 5 PM on Sundays, every once in a while I had to take my turn on a Sunday shift. One such Sunday I was working along with a fellow employee, John. He didn't much like working Sundays, either; he was a service technician and was as eager to close out that afternoon in March as I was. It had been a slow day and as we we approached closing time, I was cutting fabric for a lone customer. John slid one of the front doors closed at five o'clock and closed out one of our two cash registers, he waited for me to finish up so that we could lock up and each go home. The customer needed some notions to go along with her fabric purchase; finally, I carried her accumulated items to the register and rang up the sale. John had readied a bag for me, it was waiting on the counter, I slid her items inside and he locked the door behind her. I totaled out the register and looked for the receipts, checks and cash from the other cash drawer while John locked up the office. We only needed to drop these into the bank deposit as we exited the mall and we were free to leave for the day! I asked John where the contents of the other cash register were and he gave me the strangest look... "In the bag..." he responded, in what I remember as sort of a strangled whisper. "Bag?" I questioned; but we both already knew what had happened. He'd placed the money in the very same bag that I had sent home with our last customer. She was now carrying fabric and matching thread along with most of our day's receipts! I can recall, even now, the cold, sinking feeling of absolute panic that was overwhelming me as John ran in circles around the store before bolting to the parking lot in an attempt to find her. It was too late, the parking lot was empty. We didn't know the customer, she'd paid by cash, we had no way to contact her. We didn't have a choice, we had to call our manager. At first he couldn't believe that we would do anything that absent-minded, but when he figured out that we were serious he asked that we each come in the next morning before opening. We were both certain that we were losing our jobs. He sat us down and closed the office door, I'm sure we must have looked absolutely pitiful. He didn't fire us but rather gave us a pep-talk and then told us about all the times he'd screwed up and how people had given him second chances when he felt he hadn't deserved them. We both were relieved, able to breathe again, and yet still felt like we'd let people down; we had much to prove now that we'd been let off the hook. Less than fifteen minutes later our boss came strolling out of the office wearing a huge smile. The customer had phoned, she'd found the money and was returning it right away! I was amazed, I hadn't even dreamed that might happen! Somehow The Journal and Courier got wind of the story and printed a small article in the next day's paper entitled: "Singer Co. Pads Lady's Purchase". (I still have a copy of that article in a scrapbook somewhere.) We took some good-natured ribbing for awhile from customers and fellow mall employees who'd stop by and ask if we were giving away any money that day, things like that. But, as long as I live, I'll never forget the look on that dear lady's face when she returned that bag of money thirty three years ago, she was so exceedingly joyful. (So was I!) She was the human face of honesty and integrity; she taught me so much... simply through the way she lived her life. I am who I am today because of the scores of people and myriad of experiences that have left imprints on me; joyful, indelible imprints!

...I am deeply appreciative...
Life is Good!