Collections
Copyright 2004 by Suzy Wurtz
Collecting things is a common pastime.
Some people collect antiques; some collect beer cans; others collect objects
based on a theme, like cows, motorcycles, trucks, or clowns. Looking around my
house, you would find collections of salt and peppershakers, dust, recipes,
beanie babies, dust, photographs, watermelon objects, and vast collections of
magazines that we don’t have time to read.
I have also been collecting emails in electronic folders for
future use. One such email in my collection is an article from the New York
Times on February 27, 2002. It was about people who collect things from
restaurants. Things they don’t own. Actually, it was about people who steal
things. Times reporter Donna Paul chronicled the trend in upscale restaurants of
patrons who take “souvenirs” of fine china, silverware, glassware, artwork,
candles, statues, and amazingly, even large light fixtures. I saved the article
because it amused and amazed me, but also because it made me think of one’s
personal “theft tolerance.”
I’d not take silverware from a restaurant, but I have helped
myself to extra wrapped plasticware to carry in my purse when at fast food
restaurants. The difference to me is in the value of the item, of course. But
when I thought about it, value aside, what was the difference? Don’t worry, I
won’t lose any sleep over the plastic spoon, but it brought up today’s question:
“Where do you draw the line?”
The restaurant industry is not alone. I’ve worked in offices
of varying sizes since I was in college. Office supplies fly out the door at an
alarming rate. In my experience, the bigger the organization, the bigger the
loss suffered. I’ve walked out of an office with more than one pen in my hand,
I know. But I have also seen people take home bags of paper clips, Post-It
notes, pens, note-pads, pencils, and markers, as though the loot was the Holy
Grail. Why do they do it? For the worst reasons of all: 1) because they can,
2) because no one is looking, 3) because they feel “entitled” to a perk, and/or
4) because the loss is a normal “cost of doing business.”
Most of us wouldn’t consider it stealing to take an unused
complimentary shampoo from a hotel, but we wouldn’t take the light bulbs, toilet
paper, Kleenex, ashtrays, television, or coffeepot. Note: I believe the Gideon
bibles are available for the taking, however. And if you need to take the light
bulbs, perhaps you could use the bible, too.
Don’t forget cable TV. If you owned the correct hardware and
lived in an apartment building, it didn’t used to be that hard to hook yourself
up. Not to mention a cable guy I once knew who connected people on a “cash
basis,” not telling his company that the customer was using the service. It all
goes out over the same cable wire –does it make a big difference if one more
person gets HBO for free? And, is that freebie less serious or more serious
than taking a fork from a restaurant?
At our house, the worst thieves are people and things who
steal our time, like poor communicators, telemarketers, unclear instructions,
bad handwriting, and public radio membership drives. They could have my entire
drawer full of silverware if they would give me back my time.
“What are you writing about?” Asked my teenage daughter from
the hall.
“About people who take silverware and glassware from
restaurants,” I replied.
She poked her head in the door and met my eye with a
surprised look. “People really DO that?” she asked with a grimace.
I nodded. But as she left the room, I stopped to smile,
pleased that we’ve raised a young person who found that sort of theft
outrageous. So however my time may have been stolen over the years, some of my
time was apparently well spent.
I’m sure there’s still a plastic spoon at the bottom of my
purse. But you can be sure that I’ll be buying my own box of 50 plastic spoons
on my next shopping trip.
Because someone in my household is learning about
“collecting” from my example.
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